


Hide Your Love Away

by AthenaScarlet



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Captain Swan Big Bang, Comic-Con, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Jones Brothers, Leather Jackets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-29
Updated: 2019-01-13
Packaged: 2019-07-20 05:48:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 53,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16130924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AthenaScarlet/pseuds/AthenaScarlet
Summary: When her co-star’s night of drunken debauchery goes viral, Emma Swan agrees to fake a relationship with him to save their show. She just wishes the man in charge of rehabbing Neal’s image and keepingMisthavenon the air wasn’t Killian Jones, the pirate who ravished her at Comic Con. Now Killian thinks he’s fixing a problem he created, and Emma can’t tell him – or anyone else – that the whole thing is just an act.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to post this! I thought I was crazy to sign up for the @captainswanbigbang and now that I’ve done it, I can confirm it was a pretty nutty idea. But I love that whole group for encouraging me to write this story. I LOVE [@shady-swan-jones](https://shady-swan-jones.tumblr.com/) for my banner and all the art you’re going to see from her that’s inspired by this story. She did such a great job and I’m so excited for everyone to see her work. Also a HUGE thanks to [@idristardis](http://idristardis.tumblr.com/) who betaed this thing and found my typos and plot holes. It’s 55,000 words so you know beta reading this was a job.
> 
> I know I’ve said it before, but seriously, thank you all for encouraging me over the years to write fanfic in this fandom. My first Captain Swan fanfic was posted here back in February 2014. Since then, I’ve written 25 Once fanfics and self-published two original novels on Amazon ([you can buy them here!](https://www.amazon.com/Jenny-Redford/e/B07CMGWZR1)). You guys were a part of that so thank you so much for being so supportive. Hope you enjoy this new one!

 

 

  
Banner by [shady-swan-jones](https://shady-swan-jones.tumblr.com/)

Emma Swan leaned back as the service elevator doors closed, letting out a sigh of relief for making it in without being detected.

She loved events like this and getting closer to the fans. She loved interacting with people who enjoyed the work she did. But all of that was tomorrow. Tonight, she just wanted to relax in her hotel room with some room service and be "The Emma Swan" later.

Emma took a deep breath to calm herself as the elevator doors opened. Luckily, the network had booked the entire floor of a San Diego hotel just for its people. Actors, writers, public relations people, even the stray lawyer or two. Everyone was on that one floor, which made her feel a little more at ease. She went to a smaller convention last month and had fans knocking on her door at three in the morning. The info packet for this convention from the network's event planners specifically said they would have security roaming the floor, which meant no strangers knocking at odd hours.

Except as Emma got close to her hotel room, she found a stranger in front of her door in black leather.

He looked skinny with dark hair and scruff, his leg casually kicked out in front of him as he leaned back against the wall by her hotel room door. Whatever he was reading on his smart phone was so interesting that he didn't even notice Emma walk up to him. She stood there for a moment trying to figure out what to do. Well, and admiring him. The black leather seemed to be some sort of cosplay and it had a kind of shine to it under the crappy hall lights.

But Emma also wanted to get into her room and order some room service.

"Um, excuse me?"

The man's eyes snapped up to her — amazingly blue and outlined in black eyeliner — and he scrambled to his feet with a slightly embarrassed look on his face.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Is this your room?"

He gestured towards the door, his movement making his long leather coat sway around him. He was tall and lanky now that he was on his feet, his leather pants and unbuttoned shirt showing off his toned physique.

That's when Emma noticed the hand he had used to gesture towards her door. Well, it wasn't really a hand.

"Is that a hook?" she asked him.

He gave her a small grin. "Aye."

"Are you supposed to be someone?"

"Be someone?" he asked.

"I mean, the whole get up," Emma said, gesturing at his head-to-toe cosplay.

His smile grew before making a sweeping bow in front of her. "Captain Hook as your service, ma'am."

Emma's eyes narrowed as she took in this man who looked like a motorcycle pirate. "I thought Captain Hook was supposed to have a waxed mustache and a perm."

"Some people think perms are bad." The man slipped his phone into the back pocket. His hand took hold of a large silver belt buckle and he stood up a little straighter so Emma could get the full effect of his costume. "This is supposed to be a dark Captain Hook cosplay."

"Dark?"

"And devilishly handsome," he said with a sexy grin.

"No," Emma said skeptically.

"Scoundrel?"

Emma just stared at him, trying to hide what her body was thinking. She could hear a voice inside her head telling her that he was all of the above. Handsome? Definitely. Scoundrel? His grin made her wish she could find a way to see if that was true.

But then she reminded herself that he could be a creep or a weird fan or something. Seriously, where was this security that the network had promised?

"How exactly did you even get here?"

"The Jolly Roger?"

Ugh, no! He was easy on the eyes, that was for sure, but this conversation had to end. She needed a glass of wine and an order of onion rings.

Emma started marching towards him, hotel key card in hand. She was hoping she could duck in to her room and slam the door before the sexy but strange pirate could push his way in. Hook, or whatever his name was, seemed to sense that she wasn't playing his game anymore, deftly moving aside for her.

"I'm sorry if I offended, lass," he said as she swiftly walked by. "I guess I got a little too into my character."

His tone had changed dramatically. Gone was the teasing, sultry voice, replaced with more sincerity.

"It's OK, happens to all of us," she said with a small smile. "Just out of curiosity though, how did you get on this floor?"

"You mean the floor in front of your door?" he asked.

Emma looked at the spot he had vacated. "Well, no, but yes, I guess," she said. "It's just that the network told us there would be security here so we wouldn't have to deal with fans on this floor."

"Oh, I'm not a fan." A bit of panic crossed his face. "I mean, I am a fan. I love your show," he stammered. "But my brother and I got a room on the floor because NTS is one of our clients."

Emma nodded slightly in understanding. "And you're in front of my door because?"

The pirate gestured with his hook towards the door next to Emma's room where a sock was hanging off the door knob. "My brother brought a guest back."

"A sock on the door? Really?"

Hook just shrugged, his coat swishing slightly in a sinful way.

Emma turned and finally got her door to open. She stepped in and turned on the lights, reaching back for her suitcase in the hallway. But she made sure to take one more glance at the gorgeous man standing there.

"Well, good luck with getting back into your room."

He gave her a warm smile and another bow. "May you have a wonderful evening, lass," he said, looking up to give her a wink as she closed the door.

Well, that was odd, Emma thought as she dragged her suitcase into the room and sat down at the desk. She was starving and the first thing she intended to do was get her room service order in. She called down and told them what she wanted, making sure she just gave them her room number and not her name as well. And yes, she ordered a grilled cheese sandwich and onion rings from the kids menu. It was all about comfort food at this point.

She kicked off her shoes but not her socks just yet because this was a hotel room after all and it was gross to walk around in her bare feet. Then she started rummaging through the gift basket that the network had already delivered to the room. At least those were usually good. Some fancy chocolate, a few bags of pretzels and chips, two bottles of California wine with a Comic Con corkscrew and bottled waters.

Next to it was her itinerary from the public relations office for her activities the next day. They were going to knock on her door at 8 a.m. She was thankful it would be on the later side. There were some press events that had her up at 6 a.m. to start answering questions.

Really, she was thankful for all of it. Sure, Comic Con was work and it could be stressful, but Emma could also be at home representing nothing, which is where she had been for too many years before this.

Emma was proud of her success with _Misthaven_. After seasons of being a supporting actress on a few other shows, Regina Mills had specifically made sure she was cast as one of the leads for a sci-fi drama on NTS. Emma was so excited to get that role. She got to play a kickass black ops agent in a secret government program code named Misthaven and charged with investigating unexplained phenomenon. She loved going to work everyday and her co-star, Neal Cassidy, was one of the best acting partner she ever had. The show had a lot of heart with thought-provoking stories that related to current politics. And it was a good drama. Real drama. It was a dream role for Emma and the big break she had always wanted.

But there was something different about sci-fi in recent years: the fans. Before, fans had to hide in the shadows and quietly talk about their love for fantasy and science fiction shows for fear of being labeled a "nerd." Now, being a nerd was cool and shows like Emma's were riding it all the way to success in the ratings.

It also meant fans loved conventions and San Diego Comic Con was the biggest of them. Emma thought about the money NTS was giving her just for showing up — more than she earned in her first recurring TV role for a whole season. It was ridiculous! And she loved the fans, she really did, but she didn't always like them. At a huge convention like this, which was the biggest one she would attend this year, the fans could be intense. The schedule was just as demanding. There would be smiles and handshakes and autographs and panel discussions and media and questions for many long hours tomorrow.

It could even start tonight if she wanted. She had been invited to a few parties or could attend the network event over at the marina. But she just wanted to have some quiet in her hotel room instead, even if it meant a grilled cheese sandwich at 10 o'clock at night.

She went over her schedule again, then took out some sweat pants and a t-shirt from her suitcase to change into. She also grabbed her dress for the next day and hung it up so it would be ready.

Emma was just finishing up some email when a knock on the door made her smile. Just in time! She checked the peephole, confirming it was room service, before opening it. The attendant walked in with a tray that smelled delicious and Emma signed the receipt, making sure she gave the biggest tip that would be covered by the network's per diem. The older woman smiled and thanked her before heading out the door.

But as it swung shut, Emma caught just a glimpse of black leather. Perplexed, she walked over and opened the door again.

"Back so soon?" said the pirate sitting on the floor.

She turned to see her neighbor's sock was on his door knob. "You're still here?" she asked.

"Still here." He sounded slightly bitter about the whole situation and she couldn't blame him.

"Why aren't you at a party or something?"

The pirate leaned his head back against the wall. "I can only do so much wandering in San Diego in a heavy leather coat."

"You didn't think that through, did you?"

He smiled. "I did not."

That smile. For some reason, it was that smile that did something to her. She honestly felt bad for the guy. Dragging himself around in the heat of San Diego in all that leather, getting kicked out of his room by his own brother, sitting there on his phone in front of her door. Perhaps her first impression of him wasn't that great.

Emma sighed and leaned against the door frame. "Would you like to come in?"

His teasing smile was replaced by honest shock. "What?"

"You don't have a room, you look a little tired and you probably need a drink. Get your ass up."

"I appreciate the invite," he said quietly. "But you really don't have to do that."

"Come on, Captain. Let's go."

The pirate sat there staring at her before scrambling to his feet, probably realizing this was the best offer he would get all night.

Emma held the door open for him as he walked past her and let it close behind him. She didn't realize just how tall he was and how blue his eyes looked when she first saw him out there. But here, in her room, directly in front of her, she noticed those things about him very quickly.

"Um, I'm Emma."

She held out her hand to introduce herself, which always felt a bit awkward since most people already knew who she was.

"Killian."

His hand was warm and solid in hers, but his face looked slightly strained.

"You don't look that happy to be here," she said with a bit of sarcasm.

"I was hoping I could get back to my room and get this heavy jacket off so my shoulders weren't in such pain. But, well, you know."

He gestured with his head to his very occupied room next door. Oh yes, she knew. Emma let her hand gently linger just a little more before finally pulling it out of his grasp.

"Yeah, you may be suffering for your craft there, pirate." She smiled and started walking towards her food. "Why don't you take it off and make yourself at home. I have some food for you in my goodie bag and can give you a few onion rings if you want."

"I don't know what I did to deserve such kindness, but thank you."

She turned and shrugged. "No prob…lem."

Emma really hoped he didn't notice her linger on the last syllable of that word. She had said it just as she turned around, and her breath got caught in her throat. She did not expect him to look like that.

He had shrugged off the coat and gently draped it on her bed. Underneath it was a red brocade vest cinched to accentuate his narrow waist and had a low-cut V that exposed his chest framed by a black ruffled shirt. He dropped his fake hook on top of it, revealing another slender but strong hand. The whole look was divine.

She cleared her throat to get her bearings again. "Feel better?"

He gave her a wicked smile. "Much."

Emma started to rummage around in her goodie bag looking for things. "You like chocolate?"

"Definitely."

"Wine?"

"I'm more into rum meself."

She turned and gave him a sarcastic smile that earned an amazing laugh from him in response.

"Kidding, lass. I'll drink whatever you've got."

Emma turned back and dug around again, grabbing the wine bottle out of the bag and getting the corkscrew from the bottom. She handed both to him, his fingers brushing hers in a way that sent a tingle up her spine.

"Open this?" she asked.

He quietly got to work on the bottle as she turned to take a bite out of her grilled cheese. Still warm, but there was something unsatisfying about it since she had to look away from this gorgeous man so she could eat.

What had she even been thinking inviting him in? He could be a murderer or a real pirate or something! Oh well. She figured he wouldn't be here too much longer. Maybe.

"Glasses somewhere?"

"Bathroom," she replied with an onion ring in her mouth.

He returned with two tumblers and the opened bottle of merlot.

"That corkscrew is one of the coolest things I've ever seen in a goodie bag."

"Right?" She grabbed an empty glass from him and held it up as he poured some wine into it. "Practical, useful and it comes with wine!"

He poured his own glass of wine and held it up in salute. "To the secret agent who was kind enough to save the sorry ass of this pirate."

Their glasses clinked and she took a drink, the wine feeling warm and comforting in her throat. But not as warm as his arm was as it brushed up against her to reach for an onion ring. Then he stopped, perhaps realizing that he was being a bit presumptuous.

"May I?" He dramatically raised one eyebrow to emphasize his question.

Emma couldn't say no — or yes, considering she was a bit of a loss for words looking at him. Instead, she just gave him a small nod, one that he returned with his amazing smile. It all seemed like such a natural gesture for him, like he was already comfortable in her presence. To be fair, she felt comfortable in his as well — or at least comfortable enough to not freak out when he started taking onion rings from her plate.

He swaggered over to the couch, onion ring in hand, giving her another wonderful view of the back of his costume. Emma was able to pull herself out of her stupor long enough to pick up her plate and follow him.

"So you didn't mention how you were able to score a room from NTS," she said as she put her plate on the coffee table in front of them.

"My brother and I have a kind of public relations firm," he explained. "We help out at events like this sometimes."

"So wait, you were doing PR in that coat all day?"

"No." He laughed and reached for another onion ring. "Today was a fun day. Tomorrow is work."

Killian — with still no last name for now — leaned back and Emma saw him grimace again. How heavy was that coat of his really? And how did he walk around in the San Diego heat with it on all day? And holy hell, how could an unbuttoned shirt reveal that much of his chest when he leaned over?

"Are you sure you're OK?" she asked.

He smiled and popped an onion ring in his mouth. "I'll be fine, lass. It's like you said. I really didn't think this whole cosplay out."

"I mean, you thought about it enough that it turned out really awesome."

"For Montana in November."

She laughed and took a bite of her sandwich, feeling more at ease with him. She started asking him about where he got his costume, who made it, how long it took to get finished. It was nice to talk to someone at an event like this who didn't immediately start asking her questions about her job. And she didn't have to ask him about his. It was just two people appreciating a nice conversation about a well crafted costume.

A well crafted costume that, at some point during the night, completely ended up on the floor of Emma's hotel room.

 

  
Art by [shady-swan-jones](https://shady-swan-jones.tumblr.com/)


	2. Chapter 2

The light was just starting to peek through the blinds, and Killian cursed his brother for not closing the heavy curtains before going to sleep. He rolled over and opened his eyes to check the time on his phone on the nightstand. 6:40 a.m. If he remembered correctly, he set his alarm to go off in five minutes.

But he didn't seem to totally remember things correctly. In his waking haze, he saw a couch in the hotel room, even though he and Liam had two separate beds. The bed he was lying in was facing the wrong way.

Then Killian remembered where he was. This wasn't his hotel room. This was Emma Swan's.

He slowly rolled over to find Emma lying next to him. Her long blonde hair was fanned out over her pillow and she was naked. Well, naked except for his heavy leather coat, which she had slipped on sometime between the first and second time they had sex that night.

Bloody hell, the sex had been amazing. Killian had been cursing that stupid leather coat for several hours yesterday — that is, until Emma Swan slipped it on and then lowered her body on his. He should have earned some kind of damn medal for being able to last as long as he did. Maybe give his brother an honorable mention ribbon for reminding him to put a few condoms in an inside pocket of his coat before they left for the convention that morning.

"I know you're not the type," Liam said. "But there are attractive women in skimpy costumes here."

Sure, Killian wasn't a one-night stand kind of guy. There weren't women parading themselves in and out of his bedroom. But he was a man who was known for enjoying women. And yes, Liam was right. There were plenty of women in revealing outfits that day, but he ended up sleeping with the one in sweatpants and a t-shirt.

She was also Emma Swan. The Emma Swan. Killian thought about the itinerary they had been given by Elsa, who was coordinating all the public relations people for NTS that day. He knew Emma wasn't on his list of charges for the day. That's wasn't necessarily a bad thing. It would've been nice to have her with him, sure, but it also would've been very hard to walk with pants that would be very tight around his crotch as he thought of her warm skin under his fingers.

He started to think about waking her up, touching her one more time, feeling her move against him just once more.

Then the room was filled with buzzing and beeping and Emma's eyes snapped open. He quickly reached for his phone to turn off his alarm as Emma did the same with hers.

"Morning," she said quietly.

"Morning, lass," he replied warmly.

She gave him a sheepish grin and pulled his coat tightly around her body. "I'm just going to go…" Her voice trailed off as she nodded towards her bathroom.

"Yeah," he said, trying to sound casually. "I need to get dressed anyway."

Emma climbed out of bed, his coat trailing behind her, brushing the floor like she was some princess. It was only after the bathroom door clicked behind her that he started to collect his clothes. Everything was piled in various places. His underwear closer to the bed with his leather pants, his black shirt and red brocade vest over on the couch where he had discarded them early in their make-out session last night. His socks were… who the hell knew. He would just have to buy a new pair or something.

Killian was just pulling on his boots when Emma walked out of her bathroom wearing a white robe from the hotel with his leather coat draped over her arm.

"I believe this is yours," she said with a smile.

"It is."

He took it and smiled back at her, the nervousness from waking up next to each other seeming to have slipped away and replaced with something more friendly.

"I would ask you to stay, but I really have to start getting ready."

He thought she sounded a little disappointed. He felt the same way. "I do as well. No rest for the wicked, I guess."

"I guess not."

"I had a really good night with you, Emma."

She smiled and gave him a nod. "I did too."

An awkward silence started to fall around them. What was he supposed to say next? What move was he supposed to make now? He had only had a one-night stand once before, back in college, and rules are different when you're an adult. And is that all this was? One night? He wanted more, but he had no idea how to ask that question or what to even do next.

"Perhaps I'll see you again tonight?" he asked apprehensively.

"Do you plan on getting socked out again?"

He laughed, grateful for the joke. "I hope not, but it wouldn't be the worst thing."

"Maybe not," she replied wistfully. Then her expression seemed to drastically change, as if she was putting up a wall. "But I have to get to work today."

"Right, right, me too." He nodded slightly, then looked down at his black boots, trying hard not sound disappointed. They both had jobs to do today, busy jobs with lots of work. "Thank you for the onion rings."

She laughed at him. "And thank you for the coat to keep me warm," she teased. "But seriously, that thing is heavy and warm. Don't wear it again until you have to go to Montana or something."

Killian smiled and headed for the door. He knew when it was his time to leave and this was it. But just as Emma was about to open the door, he couldn't help but lean over and give her one more soft kiss on her warm lips.

"Good night, Emma."

She just smiled, not feeling the need to call him out on his stupidity for wishing her a good night with the San Diego sun peeking through the curtains.

"Good night, Killian."

She opened the door for him, just enough to let him slip out without anyone seeing her. Then the latch snapped close and she was gone.

Killian willed himself to step away from the door. He didn't want to be that guy who lingered, who stayed when it was obviously time for him to leave. Instead, he turned to his own hotel room, the one he hadn't stayed in last night, and was thankful to see there was no sock on the door handle. He would have to talk to his brother about that later.

He walked in and immediately grabbed a hanger from the closet to hang up his leather coat. The lights were on in the room and the heavy drapes were closed — something he and Emma had forgotten about when they were distracted with other things. It sounded like his brother was in the shower getting started for the day already.

Killian grabbed his binder off the desk and laid down on the bed, looking over the game plan for the day. He was going to be heading out with the cast of a new sci-fi comedy that NTS was launching in the fall while his brother would be working with a time-traveling drama that had been picked up. The network had set up the itinerary a month ago, and Elsa had specifically chosen the two of them to handle the new shows because she knew she could trust them to do it right.

They had a reputation for doing things right. Liam and Killian had their own public relations firm, working with networks and movie studios whenever they needed some extra help. Sometimes it was movie premieres or press junkets. For the past several years, it was lending a hand at Comic Con when studios' staffs needed some more hands.

But they really prided themselves on their crisis management. They were the public relations guys you called when something went drastically wrong with a star and a publicist needed a quick image fix. Five years ago, when an actor had been caught cheating on his wife, Jones and Jones came in and created a whole campaign about how the actor was headed to rehab for sex addiction. Really, they just sent him off on a month-long vacation to a private island in the Caribbean. His marriage completely dissolved, but Liam and Killian saved his image and his career. It solidified their place in Hollywood and they had been successful ever since.

Luckily, today wasn't a crisis, just a simple baby-sitting job watching over the talent to make sure everything was done right and on time.

Killian heard the water turn off in the bathroom and threw his legs over the side of the bed he hadn't slept in last night. Pulling his boots off, he had just enough time to set them aside before his brother walked out of the bathroom.

"Killian, you're here."

"I'm here."

His brother gave him a sheepish grin. "I'm really sorry about last night. By the time…"

His voice trailed off as he checked himself. It was obvious Liam didn't want to tell him any more, which was fine because he didn't want to know any more. Frankly, he thought he may know too much already.

"Don't worry," he said. "I'm a pirate. I slept in a hammock under the stars."

His brother gave him a skeptical look, one that Killian returned by rolling his eyes. His brother hated when he did that, but today he deserved it. Although where he really slept was not something he wanted to go into at this moment. It would be a long time before Killian ever told his brother about last night's escapade. They shared things that only brothers would tell each other, but right now, sleeping with Emma Swan was his secret and he wasn't going to let go of it.

Instead, Killian figured it was best to just change the subject.

"Did you leave me some dry towels?"

Liam looked proud of himself. "I did, and I didn't use up all the hotel shampoo."

"How noble of you!" Killian proclaimed, waving his arm in the air.

He hopped up and discarded his ruffled shirt in a heap on the bed before making his way to the bathroom.

"Killian?"

He turned to see his brother standing there, wet hair dangling near his face, looking sheepish again. "I really am sorry about last night. I guess the time got away from me."

"It's OK, brother. Happens to all of us sometimes."

Killian headed in and closed the bathroom door behind him, thankful for the privacy. He almost had to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Liam apologizing for losing track of time while he was with a woman. Meanwhile, Killian had somehow found his way into the arms of Emma Swan, a woman he felt so comfortable with that he hadn't realized he had passed out in her bed until the sunlight woke him up this morning.

But again, Liam didn't have to know that.

xxx xxx xxx

An hour later, the brothers were dressed and ready for the day ahead, and it was going to be a busy one. They headed down to the conference room on their floor of the hotel to eat breakfast and go over plans for the day with some of the actors. No being partners for the day as Killian headed to one table with his sci-fi comedy while Liam darted to his drama group.

Killian grabbed some oatmeal, then put his binder down on the table to talk to the actors and make some notes.

"So did you say that you know Katherine from _Fairy Tale Times_?" Killian asked David Nolan as they ran through the schedule for the day.

"Yeah, she was a big fan of a medieval show I was on a few years ago and wrote a lot of stories about it."

David's wife and co-star, Mary Margaret, scowled from her seat next to him and began to poke at the pile of scrambled eggs on her plate. Killian scribbled notes on his itinerary about David's work with Katherine but also made a mental note about Mary Margaret's reaction. He remembered the rumors years ago about David dating a reporter, he just didn't realize that the reporter in question was Katherine — or at least he didn't realize it until he noticed Mary Margaret's reaction. He would have to make that interview as professional as possible if they wanted to get any kind of good coverage out of it.

There was more on the to-do list as well. Photo shoots with magazines, interviews with websites, a panel with fan questions, Emma Swan looking drop-dead gorgeous in a red dress.

Killian's eyes swept over the woman who had just walked into the room. Off-the-shoulder red dress with a deep V neck, tight waist and a flowing skirt. He could see a bit of black netting from an underskirt peeking out by the hem. Her shoes were high heels that were the same shade of red, and her blonde hair was braided and wrapped around her head like a crown.

She looked like a queen. His queen with creamy smooth skin that felt soft and warm under his lips the night before.

"Killian?"

"Huh?" He turned back to see both Mary Margaret and David staring at him. "Sorry, zoned out there for a moment. I probably should have grabbed a little more sleep after the network party last night."

Killian congratulated himself on coming up with a quick believable answer as Mary Margaret gave him a sympathetic smile.

"We would've had the same problem if we weren't stuck shooting in L.A. last night."

"At least the network was nice enough to charter a bus for everyone to get down here so we could get some sleep on the way."

"So how was the party?" Mary Margaret asked.

"The party?" Killian asked.

She gave him a confused look. "Yeah, the network party."

"Oh! Right. It was a party. You know, nothing special."

David nodded. "Oh yeah, I've been to parties like that. Sometimes it's tiring just to be there."

Killian picked up another spoonful of his oatmeal, using it as a cover to casually look over David's shoulder and see Emma again. She was standing in line for a drink, her back to him, the cut of her dress accentuating the curves of her body. He couldn't just sit there anymore. His spoon dropped back into the oatmeal, the metal loudly clanging against the bowl.

"I'm going to get some coffee!" he said a little too loudly. "You know, to wake up after the party. Last night. Do you need some?"

Mary Margaret and David shook their heads and went back to eating. Killian, meanwhile, had practically jumped out of his seat, only realizing he needed to take control of his body when he was a few feet from Emma. With a deep breath, he calmed himself down and took up a spot next to her at the table.

"Good morning," he said casually.

He watched as her hand paused, the creamer no longer pouring into her cup. "Morning."

She gently put the pitcher down before grabbing some sugar for her coffee, never making eye contact with him. It was probably for the best. If she looked at him, he would be forced to find an excuse to drag her back to her hotel room and continue what they had started last night.

Instead, he checked behind him to make sure no one was watching them. Then he leaned over and quietly said to her, "You look ravishing."

She turned slightly towards him and he could see the small smile teasing at her lips. He could also see her eyes linger on his chest where his shirt was unbuttoned by his collar.

"Thank you."

Emma grabbed her coffee and quietly walked away, the encounter simply a secret between the two of them, as Killian took his cup back to the table in a haze of whatever perfume Emma had put on that morning. She smelled like vanilla.

Mary Margaret and David had been joined by the third actor coming with them for the day, a man with a beard named Leroy.

"Alright, you guys ready to go?" he asked.

"Don't you want to drink your coffee?" Mary Margaret asked.

Killian looked down at his cup. He didn't even want coffee this morning. He had only used it as an excuse to talk to Emma.

"Uh." He would never win any improv awards. Ever. "There's no time now, let's get moving. It's going to be a busy day."

He left the coffee on the table, then grabbed his notes and itinerary and led the actors to the elevators.

"Hey, that was Emma Swan, wasn't it?" Leroy loudly asked no one in particular. "She's hot."

Killian could only stare ahead at the elevator door and close his eyes, making another mental note for the day: Leroy did not know how to do subtle.


	3. Chapter 3

Emma pulled into her parking spot at the studio early Tuesday morning, thankful that NTS had given the cast a day off after Comic Con to recover from all the events that weekend.

The whole convention was one crazy thing after another. There were so many interviews and so many questions from reporters and fans and the bouncer at that stupid party the network forced her to go to on Saturday night. Seriously, the guy just had to check her name off the guest list. Instead, she got stuck there for 15 minutes watching other actors and network executives walk in with a quick nod and a quick check while the bouncer asked her question after question. Yes, sure, he was a fan. She did this for the fans and all. But at some point, she wished she could've just gone back to her hotel room and closed the door.

But when she got back to her hotel room on Saturday night, it didn't give her any comfort. Her heart was racing in her chest as she got closer and closer, quickly walking down the hall to see if there was another surprise like the night before. Perhaps another certain gorgeous lanky man would be sitting in front of her hotel room door waiting for her?

But there was no man. She even checked his room's door knob, but no sock. Killian wouldn't be locked out tonight.

Emma stared at his door knob, thinking about whether she would knock to see if he was back yet. After all, it was well past one a.m. by that point so he was probably already asleep after a long day working at the convention. And what if his brother answered?

"Hi! We never met, but I'm Emma Swan from that TV show, and I want to fuck your brother senseless. Is he here?"

That was definitely not a good idea.

Instead, Emma quietly unlocked her hotel room door and slipped in. The lights flickered on and the emptiness of the room made her feel lonely. It didn't feel the same without Killian.

The bathroom began to fill with steam after she turned the shower as hot as it would go and stripped off the dress and shoes she had been wearing all day. But as she washed off the crust of convention humanity, she could only think about Killian, her hands wandering lower to do the job that he had done so well for her the night before, sending her over a blissful edge.

Emma blinked, snapping out of her daydream to realize that she was still sitting in her car in the studio's parking lot. Her mind had wandered, and she was thinking things she shouldn't have been thinking about in public when she was on her way to her job. Not to mention the fact that at this point, it was highly unlikely she would ever see Killian again considering she never learned his last name. Hollywood could be small and everyone supposedly knew everyone, but it wasn't that small. After all, she had never met him before that fateful night. She couldn't just walk up to the studio's public relations office and ask her friend Elsa, who worked in that office, about that Killian guy. It would be too weird and awkward.

Besides, she had other awkward things to deal with. While she was taking her libido into her own hands on Saturday night, her co-star was passed out drunk in the gutter. Literally. She had been by Neal Cassidy's side for most of the day, but they went their separate ways during the network's party. While she was doing her best to answer the bouncer's questions and rub elbows with studio executives, her co-star took up a prime spot by the bar and never left. It wasn't a big deal. Celebrities drink a little too much at these weekend events anyway. It's not unusual to ride up on the elevator with an actor who smells like bourbon and beer.

But that's not what happened to Neal. Instead, he walked out of the party and wandered over to the alley between two buildings to take a piss. He passed out mid-stream. Fans recorded the whole thing.

He was a hilarious viral sensation by Sunday morning. On Monday, it wasn't so funny.

Conservative groups were threatening to boycott the show and its advertisers. Fans were heartbroken to see their favorite actor drunk with his dick hanging out of his pants. Parents wondered how they could allow their kids to watch a show with a strong female character when the man who stood by her had been caught doing something so inappropriate.

Emma was thankful for having that Monday off in order to prepare herself for what was coming today. Because today was going to be bad. So bad that she walked right past the stage where Misthaven was shot, right past her trailer with her costume for that day, right past the extra set pieces that had been moved out of storage for today's scenes.

Instead, she was going directly to see the head of the studio.

Regina Mills once went to bat for her, making sure she got her role on Misthaven. Now, Emma had to find a way to return the favor even if she wasn't exactly sure what Regina had in mind.

The elevator doors opened on the third floor of the executives building and Emma stepped out into the modern lobby, decorated in blacks and whites. Regina's sister, who also served as her assistant, looked up and gave Emma a tight smile.

"Good morning," Zelena said sympathetically from behind her white desk. "You can head into Regina's office. Neal is already there and she's just pulling up now."

Emma could only nod before walking over to the office's double doors. Neal's eyes met hers from his spot on the couch, his face dark and tired. He looked like he hadn't had much sleep and his shoulders slumped as if they had a heavy weight on them.

"Hey," he said quietly.

For as much trouble as he had caused them, Emma still felt bad for him. He wasn't the kind of person that would normally do something like this. Something else had to be going on with him and whatever he had done to cope made it out to the internet.

Emma took a spot next to him and placed her hand on his arm. "How are you doing?"

"I've been better," he said.

They sat there quietly with Emma's hand on his arm. She was still his friend no matter what, and she wanted him to know that she would be there to support him in whatever way she could. She also wanted to remind him that they were a team, on and off screen.

"You know, there are people calling for the show to get canceled."

"What's new?" she asked. "They called for that when we gave them that crazy cliffhanger at the end of last season. It'll be fine."

"I think this is going to worse than the cliffhanger," he grumbled.

Emma scoffed. "Really? Because even I wasn't sold on that plot twist. I mean, do you know how many executives asked me to explain it at the convention? But I would start talking and their eyes would glaze over. It was like they were just there for the parties."

"Sounds a lot like me," Neal said glumly.

"You just had a bad night," she said. "It could happen to any of us."

Emma squeezed his arm a little, hoping to reassure him. He obviously felt guilty about what happened and would do anything to fix it for the show. He was just like her: focused, determined, dedicated to the craft and the story they were trying to tell. Whatever needed to be done to get him and the show back on track, he would do it, and Emma would have no problem standing by his side and supporting him. It was their show after all and they were in this together.

Just as Emma was about to tell him that, Regina came in wearing her trademark black jacket and high heels.

"Oh, good. You're both here." She took off her coat and draped it over a chair across from them. "Sorry I was running a bit late, but you know how traffic is in Los Angeles," she said, waving her hand in the air for emphasis as she took a seat across from them. "So you two don't look so great."

"Regina, I'm so sorry about what happened," Neal said. "I was dealing with a personal issue on Saturday night and overdid it."

"I know this is out of character for you and I appreciate your honesty, but that doesn't change the fact that we need to clean this up." Regina paused as Zelena walked in with her morning cup of green tea. "Can you have Elsa wait outside until I'm ready for her?"

"Anything for you, sis."

Emma was never really sure if that was Zelena's normal tone of voice or if it was dripping with sarcasm. Regina didn't seem to mind though, taking a sip of her tea as she waited for Zelena to close the door before speaking again.

"Now, I know we all want to let loose at the convention — even I can get a bit crazy with all those execs there — so I'm very sympathetic to what happened," Regina explained. "But our viewers are not so understanding."

Emma tried to stay calm and not make Neal worry any more about this. "How not understanding are they?" she asked.

"Well, you know about the potential boycotts and the advertisers threatening to pull ads. It's a mess."

"I'll do whatever I can to fix this, Regina," Neal replied.

"I'll do whatever I can too," she said. "This is our show and we'll find a way to make this better for our fans."

Regina seemed to get a glimmer in her eye, like she was about to spring some conniving plan. It wasn't how Emma expected her to respond and it was unnerving.

"I'm glad you said that, Ms. Swan, because I am going to need your help for my plan."

Emma could feel Neal's arm tighten under her hand. "What plan?" he asked.

Regina stood up and walked over to her desk, bringing a manila folder back with her. "We did some consumer research."

"Consumer research? Already?" Emma asked.

"Yes, already. We have to make sure we stay ahead of a crisis and L.A. is always good for market research. Anyway." She put the folder down on the coffee table between them. "The research said that fans will be more willing to forgive Neal if there is some sort of personal connection to him to make them feel like he is a good person who just had a bad moment."

Emma's eyes narrowed as she looked at Regina. "Which is what happened."

"Yes, but we really need to drive that home with the fans. You know, so they feel sympathy for Neal and the situation he's in."

Neal sighed from beside Emma. "So you want me to tell people about the personal issues that led me to pass out on the street."

Regina gave him a disgusted look. "Oh, god no. No one cares about that!" Then she realized what she said and her face softened a bit. "I mean, people you know care about you, but the fans don't want to hear the nitty gritty details about your life."

Emma was confused. Regina seemed to be suggesting that fans wanted something personal from Neal to make them warm back up to him. But if she didn't want the real story, then what was going on?

"I'm sorry, I don't understand," Emma said. "Do you have some sort of plan?"

Regina leaned in excitedly. "Are you ready?"

Emma's hand tightened slightly on Neal's arm, hanging on for Regina's next words.

"Fake romantic relationship."

Emma was a little surprised. For the fanfare Regina just gave her brilliant idea, it didn't seem all that brilliant. Plus, she didn't even need Emma here to plot a fake relationship for Neal unless….

"So your big plan is to have me fake a romantic relationship with someone?" Neal asked.

Regina nodded enthusiastically. "Exactly!"

"With who?"

Emma's hand slid off of Neal's arm. She could feel her stomach sinking. Hell, she could feel her whole body sinking deeper and deeper into the couch as if it were about to swallow her whole. This was not a good feeling at all. But she knew now exactly why Regina had invited her here.

"With me."

"I always knew you were sharp, Emma." Regina grabbed the folder on the table and opened it with a flourish. "So we found in our focus group that fans would be more forgiving if they knew more about Neal's life. In fact, they would be more likely to believe that this was not normal behavior for him if they knew he was in a stable relationship." Regina looked at both of them and then pointed to a line on the report. "Guess who they wanted to see him with more than anyone else?"

Emma watched as Neal leaned over to look at the names of women that the focus group had apparently tested as possible partners for him. She didn't need to see the paper to know who's name was at the top.

"Seventy-two percent of people think I should date Emma?" he asked.

Regina could only smile. "I've never seen anything like it," she said with astonishment. "We've never had a positive partnership number that high."

"Wait, you ask questions like this on a regular basis?" Neal asked.

Emma could only roll her eyes. For someone who had been in the business this long, Neal seemed to be a bit oblivious to just how soul-crushing focus groups could be — and just how soul-crushing the questions from the networks could be. On her last show, she had to wear her "lawyer skirts" four inches above her knee because knee length was "too boring" and "didn't make the character likable." It was therefore totally logical that a group of people who never met Neal would have ideas about who he should date in real life. It was also obvious to include Emma's name on that list. The fact that they picked her seemed pretty expected. Sure, seventy-two percent in favor of it seemed a bit high, but other than that, she wasn't surprised.

Emma sighed and leaned back against the couch. She could talk herself into this. She was an actor and this was just a role she would have to play to save her show. Emma Swan needed to be in a fake romantic relationship with Neal Cassidy.

She dragged a hand over her face. "So I'm assuming you have a plan for this fake relationship?"

"I do."

"Wait, hold on! Slow down a second." Neal sat up, his hand in the air. "I have to fake a relationship with Emma?"

"Right."

"And why do I have to do that?"

Regina looked a bit exasperated. "Because it will repair the damage done to your public persona, which will make the call for boycotts and ad cancellations go away, which will protect the show. The story will die down and by the time the season premiere rolls around, the show's reputation — and yours — will be back on solid ground."

"What about Emma?" Neal turned and gave his co-star a pleading look. "You don't think this is a good idea, do you?"

Emma gave a dejected shrug. "It's fine. It'll work."

"Are you serious?" he asked incredulously.

"Of course, I'm serious!" She took a breath. "I hate it, but it's going to work. It's a stupid idea because focus groups are filled with idiots, but they're idiots who know what they want. If they'll support the show because they know you're a nice boyfriend who had a bad night, then we can give that to them."

Neal stared at her. "So you want me to fake a relationship with you just so we can keep the show on the air?"

Emma sat up straighter and looked him in the eye. "You were the one who got himself drunk and passed out with his dick in his hand," she said in a controlled angry voice. "I'm trying to protect our show and our jobs and the jobs of 500 people who rely on the two of us faking a relationship for a little while so they can put food on their tables." She turned to Regina, who was looking a little shocked by the whole exchange. "We won't have to do this long, right?"

Regina shook her head. "The research said we would only need a few months to smooth this all over."

"And then what?" Neal asked.

"I don't know. That's why we have Elsa coming in from the public relations department to help out."

Neal stared at Regina, then back at Emma. "I…" He fell forward with his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. "Emma, I'm really sorry."

"It's OK," she replied. "What's done is done. We'll just pretend for a little while. We will be professional on set, then hit a movie premieres or something, go grocery shopping together with some paparazzi in tow. It'll be fine."

"There is one other caveat, though," Regina said. "Hollywood gossip moves quick and if we don't want people to think this is a sham, we can't tell anyone it's a sham. No one but the three of us in this room will know your relationship is fake. Agreed?"

"Sure," Neal said quietly.

"Yeah."

"Then let me bring in Elsa. She's going to have a crisis management team with her to help plan a strategy."

Regina walked over to the phone on her desk to see if Elsa was outside waiting.

"Listen, Neal. This is going to be fine," Emma said reassuringly. "This is just another role. We're just playing two people who are dating each other. It's a romantic comedy or something."

"Right, a hilarious romantic comedy," Neal said bitterly. He turned to her and held his hand out. "Give me your hand then. Let's make sure we sell this." Emma's slipped into his, his fingers brushing the back of her hand in support. "I'm sorry, Emma. I really am."  
  
"It's OK. We're friends and we believe in Misthaven." Her hand gripped his tighter and she gave him a small smile. "We're doing this for our show."

Neal nodded and they sat there silently for a moment as Regina headed over to open her office door, giving them a quick glance. Emma pasted on her best acting smile.

The door opened and Elsa came walking in with a big smile and her long blonde hair flowing behind her. "Morning, guys!" she said cheerfully. "Sorry we have to meet under these circumstances, but I'm really excited to get started."

Emma's smile hid the turmoil she was feeling. Not even thirty seconds into this lie and a friend of hers was already falling for it. She would have to find some way to apologize to Elsa when this was all over.

"Because of the circumstances, I've brought in a crisis management team to help me out." She turned and Emma noticed the two men who had followed Elsa into the room. "This is the Jones & Jones firm, owned by Liam and Killian Jones."

Emma could feel Neal's grasp tighten as she tried to pull her hand away from his. For a brief moment, she forgot that she was acting. She forgot that she was supposed to be Neal Cassidy's girlfriend. The only thing she could think about was the man staring daggers at her from his piercing blue eyes.

Killian Jones. The leather-coated Captain Hook who fucked her senseless.


	4. Chapter 4

Killian was having trouble thinking straight, which is bad when you've been hired to be a crisis manager. He was supposed to be cool under pressure and control things when the world around him was out of control.

But this was the first time he was actually hired to manage a crisis he created.

When Liam got the call from Elsa on Monday night about coming in to help the network with a case, he knew exactly what the case would be. Neal Cassidy, the star of _Misthaven_ , had become a viral sensation — and not in a good way. It was the typical Hollywood bad boy caught on tape issue. The Jones brothers had handled several cases like that, and they could handle this one.

Except the case took a bit of a turn when they walked into Elsa's office that morning. She went over the typical notes that any network would have. They had families threaten to boycott the show, advertisers potentially pulling support. He had to give Elsa credit for doing a quick focus group to help the network hone in on exactly what they could do now to quickly respond. It was much easier to fix a problem in the early stages than if they had let it snowball.

"Here's some of the data we received," Elsa said, putting several pages in front of them for Killian and Liam to look over. "Fans said they would be more forgiving of Neal if they felt a personal connection to him."

Liam nodded. "Yeah, this is pretty typical. We can work with this." He shuffled some papers around. "I see you did a survey on some of the women the fans would like to see him with."

"Of course, Emma Swan was at the top of the list."

Of course she was. It was normal for some fans to take the characters on their shows and make them more personal. Sometimes, it was hard for people to disconnect the professional lives of actors from their personal lives when the on-screen personalities seem so close and real.

On the other hand, this wasn't just anyone they thought would be a good match for Neal Cassidy. It was Emma Swan. While he totally understood the fans' perspective from a focus group point of view, he had some of his own personal views about it. In particular, a view of a flattering red dress showing off all of her curves. Bare breasts framed by his leather jacket. A woman in sweatpants with onion rings and wine. It was all a package, and it was a package he wished he could unwrap again.

Liam's voice broke him out of his fantasy world.

"So what do you have in mind with all this data?" he asked.

Elsa gave them a smile that made Killian think she had a secret weapon and couldn't wait to tell them what it was.

"We actually have something working to our advantage," she explained. "It turns out—"

The phone on her desk rang loudly, making Killian jump slightly. Elsa picked it up with the teasing smile still on her face.

"Hello?" she said. "Oh, perfect, Zelena. We'll be right up."

Elsa hung up and started gathering the papers before Liam and Killian had a chance to look at them any further. "We're headed up to Regina's office. You guys ready?"

She started heading for the door without waiting for an answer. Killian was able to head out just in time to see Liam's quick glance at Elsa's ass. To be fair, she was attractive and wearing a hip-hugging skirt, and Killian knew Liam had always had a bit of a crush on her. But she was no Emma Swan.

The ride up on the elevator was a bit torturous. Liam did his usual small-talk pitch with some ideas for how they could rehab Neal's image. Elsa just looked at him and smiled as if she had a secret that she wanted to tell them but wasn't going to do it just yet. Although judging by his brother's face, Killian wasn't really sure if it was a secret about Neal or a secret about Liam's feelings for the public relations executive. To be fair, if he was trying to be secret about that, he wasn't doing a good job. Even Killian could see that, and he wasn't normally good about recognizing those sorts of things.

Zelena was there to greet them when the doors opened and told them to just knock since Regina was expecting them.

Then things started to fall apart.

"Morning, guys!" Elsa said cheerfully. "Sorry we have to be here under these circumstances, but I'm really excited to get started."

She moved out of the way and Killian could see who she was talking to. It wasn't just Neal. It was Neal and Emma, and they were holding hands. He thought he saw a moment of panic in her eyes and a slight movement in her hand, as if she was trying to hide that she had been caught. But she quickly shut down whatever emotion she had let out when she saw Killian standing there, and he realized that he probably would have to do the same. She was trying to hide something, and he figured it was best to go along with the ruse.

They sat down across from each other with Regina's coffee table between, but it felt like he was much farther apart from Emma than that. He tried to face Elsa as she talked about the focus group and how they would be excited to see Neal and Emma together. But Killian couldn't look their way. He didn't want to see Emma's face to confirm what he was still only trying to process.

Emma was a great match for Neal, just as the focus groups wanted, because Emma was with Neal. Emma was Neal's girlfriend.

The truth of the matter got heavier and heavier as Killian listened to his brother drone on about the media strategy they would implement to fix Neal's image. It was a basic strategy and one they had used over and over again with success in case after case.

But this case was different. Because as Killian started to actually listen to the work his brother was outlining, he realized this was his fault. Sure, it was Emma's as well. Why hadn't she told him that she was dating her co-star? But it had happened. Killian and Emma had slept together. The only explanation that Killian could figure for Neal's drunken meltdown was because he had found out his girlfriend had cheated.

With Killian.

"Killian?"

"Huh?" He looked up to find everyone in the room — including Emma — staring back at him. "I uh… I'm sorry. I got lost in my thought process for a moment there."

He turned to Regina, who was smiling at him. "I appreciate that you are taking this seriously, Mr. Jones," she said with a smile. "Your brother just mentioned something about social events. Could you elaborate on what your plan would be for those?"

Killian gave her an awkward smile, trying to mask his feelings and the fact that he wasn't thinking about a social event plan at all. Luckily, he had done this before.

"Sure, Regina. We'll start with the typical things like a comment on Twitter or Instagram, probably something that explains the relationship and the previous need for secrecy."

He paused, realizing what he had said. He had done this a hundred times before, a thousand even. But the words never resonated with him the way they did now. The need for secrecy. Why had Emma come on to him? Why had she slept with him? Why hadn't she stopped or told him that she was dating Neal Cassidy at the very beginning?

Instead, he plowed forward, almost on autopilot, as he went through their standard plan. Social online presence, red carpets and other parties and events, maybe an interview or two with entertainment media. Liam didn't mind making calls to the paparazzi and TMZ, but Killian always found that a bit squeamish for his taste. Instead, he stuck to the normal entertainment media channels that he could count on and let Liam coordinate the overall plan.

And he would need to rely on Liam to coordinate the overall plan because he didn't like this situation at all. Emma sitting there holding hands with Neal after what he had done with her that weekend. It was weird and wrong and just not something he could handle. The business side? Oh, he could be all business. But that woman had done something to him that weekend and it was all coming unraveled.

At least he could give himself a pat on the back for going through his whole social plan without once looking across that coffee table at Emma. That was a good thing.

"Well," Regina said as she looked over at her new crisis management team. "I understand now why Elsa speaks so highly of the two of you."

Killian could only plaster on his fake smile to match the real one on his brother's face.

"Elsa has always been saying that if she ever needed crisis managers, we would be the first people she would call." Liam looked over the public relations executive and could see her cheeks flush. "We don't intend to let her down. Do we, brother?"

Killian shook his head slightly. "No. We'll always take care of Elsa."

_Taking care of Emma is another issue_ , he thought.

Regina stood, signaling the end of the meeting, and the group followed. It was then that Killian finally chanced a glance at Emma, who was standing across from him, holding Neal's hand. Neal himself looked a bit awkward, which Killian attributed less to the fact that they were cleaning up his mess and more to the fact that he didn't want to shake the hand of the man who sent him in a downward drunken spiral that led to the gutter in San Diego.

But Emma held out her free hand for him to shake, and Killian couldn't refuse. It would be impolite and unprofessional. So he did what he could. He shook her hand, gave her an awkward smile and walked out.

The ride down the elevator back to the first floor lobby was bad. He was trying so hard to keep it together, but all he could think about was the look on Emma's face as she shook his hand. She didn't seem to feel sorry about any of it, more that she just regretted it. Killian couldn't blame her though. She must've regretted her boyfriend finding out that she had cheated on him, and cheated on him with the man that was hired to fix it. Killian at least took some solace in the fact that Neal didn't have any animosity towards him. Perhaps he only knew that his girlfriend cheated, not that his girlfriend cheated on him with the man who was hired to take care of the problem.

The ride back to the office in Liam's Cadillac was unusually quiet. Normally, they would talk about their game plan, but Killian wasn't in the mood to do that. Of course, Liam noticed.

"What's going on there, brother?"

Killian just shook his head. "I'm just trying to come up with a plan." That was a lie. "Do you know of any science fiction films that may be having a premiere soon? I think _Misthaven_ 's fanbase would have some overlap with a movie like that."

Liam gave him a skeptical glance from the driver's seat. "Yeah, you're right," he said. "But I meant what's going on with you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Really, Killian?" he asked. "You've been acting weird since we walked into Regina's office. Do you have a problem with this case?"

Killian stared out of the window. "I'm just thinking about what needs to be done."

"You sure?" Liam asked skeptically.

"Yeah, sure."

Killian turned to look out at the Los Angeles traffic, knowing full well that it most definitely was not what he was thinking about.

What he was thinking about was Saturday night. The brothers had attended the network's convention party. He remembered seeing Emma at the door, her red dress still making him think naughty thoughts. He remembered how the bouncer barely checked the list for his name because he was too busy asking Emma about her television show, and Emma seemed too focused on the bouncer's questions to even notice Killian walking by her.

Once they were inside, Liam had gone off to rub shoulders with a few executives while Killian headed to the bar to get them drinks. He saw Neal at the other end looking agitated, as if he was angry about something. He had two empty glasses in front of him and didn't seem to notice anyone around despite the fact that the party was loud and there were people everywhere.

Was he upset because he had found out that his girlfriend had cheated on him? Had Emma told him by that point? Or did someone else know what happened?

It looked different in Killian's mind now. It didn't help that he and Liam arrived back at the hotel early. Sure, they may have been boring for leaving the party early, but they had another day helping out Elsa with the network's talent and they needed to be prepared.

Killian was lying in his bed in a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt when he heard the door to Emma's hotel room slam shut. He heard her turn on the shower and wondered what she must look like right now. If only he had x-ray vision to see into Emma's shower. The thought made him feel weird things and he needed to gently drop his binder on his lap to cover up his hardening cock. How would he explain that one to Liam? How would he explain leaving their room right now and not coming back until tomorrow? "Hey, I need to get a candy bar from a vending machine in a hotel on the other side of San Diego. I'll be back tomorrow."

No, it was better to just stay there and find a way later on to think about what could have been.

But there never was a later on. Emma hadn't made an effort to contact him again on Saturday night or any night after that. He knew from the itinerary he got from NTS that she was headed back to Los Angeles on Sunday morning anyway.

And really, why would she ever contact him after that? She had a boyfriend who also happened to be her co-star who also happened to be the man that Liam and Killian were supposed to help.

Killian groaned from the passenger's seat of his brother's car. This was going to turn out to be such a bad idea.

"You OK?" Liam asked.

"Yeah," he said. "This case… I don't know. I'm getting a bit frustrated thinking about it."

Well, at least that was the truth.

Liam chuckled and turned into the parking lot for their office. "Don't worry. You and I both know that some of our best work is in the planning process. You'll feel better once you're back at your desk and have everything organized."

"Sure, right. That's probably all it is."

"Plus, even you said it. We'll always take care of Elsa, and I really don't intend on letting her down." Liam pulled his car into their assigned parking spot and cut the engine. "Are you sure you're ready?" he asked.

Killian nodded. "Yeah, I'm ready."

"Because you seem a little distracted."

Killian turned and stared at his brother. "We said we'll help Elsa and we will," he said. "I'm ready."

Another lie to his brother. He wondered how many more he was going to have to tell by the end of this stupid project. He wasn't sure he wanted to know how high that number could get.


	5. Chapter 5

Emma was thankful her shooting schedule was packed since they skipped that Monday after Comic Con. She needed the distraction. Badly.

She could still see the look on Killian's face when he recognized her sitting in Regina's office, holding the hand of her pretend boyfriend. She couldn't really explain it. It was a mix of heartbreak and anger and maybe some other things. His emotions seemed to be all over the place as he'd taken in the scene in front of him. Then he put on a mask and she couldn't read him from that point on. Sure, he seemed distracted, but his cover story was so believable. Perhaps he would get distracted with all the ideas in his head as he worked out a plan. Hell, she had been accused of doing the same thing on occasion while trying to learn her lines or figure out a particular scene.

The controversy swirling around Neal showing up passed out in the gutter was still around by Wednesday, which is when the Jones brothers emailed an early plan to the two of them, starting with a post on Instagram. Emma had to give the Joneses credit. They were good writers.

With a simple press of a button, Neal sent out "his" Instagram post that made this whole stupid lie public.

"First, I would just like to say I regret the incident that happened at Comic Con this weekend. I know I let my fans down. I let myself down as well. This isn't the man I am or the man I want to be. To that end, I will be seeking treatment for my drinking while I continue to shoot _Misthaven_. I know this may not make up for my past transgression, but I'm trying to be a better person for myself and for my fans."

Emma shrugged when she first read that. It was generic but well written enough that fans would believe it was authentic. The "seeking treatment" was a total lie, but it was a good lie to keep the advertisers and family groups from attacking the network any further. No one would come after Neal now that they knew he was "seeking treatment" — whatever the hell that meant in this weird twisted cover story.

But the second paragraph was a real doozy.

"I want to thank those people who have stood by my side during this difficult time, especially Regina Mills at NTS and the cast of crew of the show. I especially want to thank my girlfriend, Emma, who continues to love and support me. I promise we'll get through this together. You are my shining star. #ForMisthaven."

And with that, the whole world knew they were "dating."

Emma did as the Joneses had asked. She took Neal's announcement and reposted it on her Instagram as well. People were already speculating as to whether the "Emma" mentioned in Neal's statement was her. This would just confirm their suspicions. Under the printed statement, she added to her Instagram post.

"With love, your shining star. #ForMisthaven"

She did as Liam had asked her, punctuating the post by echoing Neal's hashtag. She had been in Hollywood long enough to know how this social media game was played.

This morning, when Emma opened her garage door, she was weirded out by all the cars parked on her street. But then she noticed people jumping out of all those cars, cameras in hand. Of course. The paparazzi had arrived, trying to get at least one photo of the stars of _Misthaven_ who were now an item. A picture of the new official couple could fetch thousands of dollars for any of these celebrity leeches blocking the end of her driveway.

Emma put on her sunglasses, backed out of the driveway as best as she could without running over the crowd at the end, and drove off with her head down.

Two hours later, Liam sent her an email that read, "Great job this morning with the paparazzi! I know it may have been a bit intense, but it generated a lot of buzz for you and Neal. This will really help rehab his image, which I know will make you happy."

Sure, happy.

She noticed Liam had CCed two people on the email: Elsa and Killian.

By lunch, she couldn't take it anymore. Crew people were looking at her weird, giving her knowing smiles or nodding suspiciously as she walked to set to do some scenes with Neal. Everyone was standing around waiting for a little hint at a relationship between them. But she and Neal had never talked about how to react or what to do. They hadn't uttered a word to each other about this stupid fake relationship since they'd left Regina's office. They probably should have at least touched base before Neal had sent the note out. But what was done was done.

She decided to eat lunch in her trailer and go over her lines for the afternoon, or at least that was her excuse so she wouldn't be bothered by anyone who wanted to pry or ask questions. Halfway through her salad, she heard her phone ding with a text. She glanced down and saw Neal's name on her screen.

_Sorry this is so weird._

She picked up the phone and unlocked it to type out a reply.

_It's OK. I know this isn't exactly what you wanted._

_And it's definitely not what you wanted either_ , he texted.

That was very true. Pretending to be in a fake relationship was bad enough. But pretending to be in one when Killian Jones was staring at her, not knowing the truth? That was even worse.

_How do you want to play this?_ she asked Neal.

_Just play it straight. We're actors here on set. If anyone asks, our private lives are for after work, not on set._

For the first time since this whole stupid thing started, Emma felt the tightness in her chest loosen just a little bit. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad and they would be able to get through it together knowing that Neal was on the same page she was. They would do the occasional appearance, the occasional wandering around the neighborhood so the paparazzi could get a few photos. But Neal didn't expect anything more than that.

Emma's phone bleeped again in her hand with another message from Neal.

_Did you get the email from Liam about Friday? He and Killian want to go over their plan._

There went any confidence Emma had about the situation. They wanted to go over a plan? With Killian in the room? The tightness was back in her chest and it felt worse than before.

_Let me check the email and get back to you_ , was all she could reply.

The email was sitting in Emma's inbox, just as Neal had said. It was from Liam and he'd once again included Killian and Elsa as additional recipients.

"Hello lovely couple!" _Yeah, right_ , Emma thought. "We're putting together some strategies and an itinerary for at least the next three weeks." _Three weeks?_ "Let's meet on Friday night after you're done with the show. Would one of you be up for hosting our brainstorming session?"

She would have to touch base with Neal on this one, but there was no way Emma wanted to host a brainstorming session at her house.

A production assistant knocked on her door to let Emma know that she was needed back on the set for the afternoon. She took one last bite of her salad, grabbed her phone and headed out. Her mind was still racing when she turned the corner and found Neal standing at the bottom of the stairs to his trailer.

"Hey," he said quietly.

"Hi."

He took up a spot next to her and the two of them followed the PA to their set, both silently agreeing to walk close to one another without actually touching or in any other way pretending to be a couple.

"So," Neal finally said as they headed into the doors for the sound stage. "Did you read the email?"

"I did."

"Listen," he said a bit desperately. "My apartment isn't very big and I know you have that nice place in the Hollywood Hills so would you mind hosting everyone on Friday?"

Yes, yes, she would mind, but this was her fate. This is what happened when you agree to a plan from the head of the network to carry on this stupid charade.

"Sure, I can host," she said glumly.

"Thanks," he replied quietly. "Maybe you could send an email in reply to Liam then?"

"Right, sure."

She pulled her phone out of her pocket and typed up a quick reply. She read it four times, wanting to make sure she sounded believable even though it was all made up.

"Hi, Liam! I would be happy to host our session. You can call Elsa to get my address and plan a specific time. We should be off the set by six o'clock that night. Thank you!"

Did it sound professional enough? And more important, did it sound believable enough? Emma read it a few more times, making sure it would hit the right tone, before finally pressing send.

xxx xxx xxx

Elsa had somehow persuaded her to get margaritas and dinner at some fancy Mexican restaurant at the mall in Century City that night. Emma had only agreed to eat there because it wasn't crawling with paparazzi like The Grove or tourists traps like Hollywood and Highland. It was close to the studios and a bunch of offices so the only people who would be here would be industry types who would leave you alone.

She got there first and made sure to order a margarita as soon as she sat down. Emma was looking at the menu when a Chanel purse dropped dramatically on the table, followed by its owner quickly taking a seat across from her.

"I don't mean to pry, but you better start talking," Elsa said seriously.

"Would you like something to drink, ma'am?"

Elsa quickly turned to the waiter and plastered on her perfectly glowing public relations smile. "Sure," she said warmly. "Margarita."

"Salt?"

Elsa's sweet smile stayed on. "Of course."

The waiter nodded and walked away just before Elsa turned back to Emma with a serious face. "Start gossiping."

Emma looked across the table, the tightness in her chest from this afternoon once again rearing its ugly head. Elsa was a great friend, and now Emma had to lie to her. She promised Regina she would tell no one, and one thing that Emma always did was keep her promises. Loyalty was something she regarded highly after years in the foster care system where it had been a scarce commodity. But she was being pulled in two directions now: staying loyal to her promise to Regina while being a very unloyal friend.

"We just didn't want anyone to know because of the scrutiny," she lied.

"Well, I do get that," Elsa said. "You have no idea how many calls we've received about your relationship since you went public with it yesterday."

"So you see why we didn't want to tell anyone?"

Elsa shrugged. "I suppose," she said begrudgingly.

Emma could tell her friend was trying to understand, but it sounded like she may be a little angry or hurt that Emma had kept this from her. Emma couldn't blame her.

They became friends four years ago when Emma's show was picked up by NTS and she had to go on a press tour to promote it everywhere. It was three days of answering the same questions over and over again from different reporters. By the end of it, Emma couldn't keep any of them straight, but she had bonded with the public relations specialist that the network had sent to help her navigate all of it. Elsa had deftly handled every reporter, every strange request, every event. By the end of those three days, there were friends.

Friends who drank margaritas, which thankfully showed up on their table along with a basket of the best chips from any Mexican restaurant in the area, which was saying something considering this was Los Angeles.

Elsa grabbed hers first, taking the lime from the salted edge of the glass and dropping it right into the margarita. Then she picked it up and raised it towards Emma with a smile.

"Alright," she said. "We have to make a toast now!"

"To what?" Emma asked.

"To Emma and Neal, of course."

Emma raised her glass and clinked it against Elsa's. "To Emma and Neal," she said less enthusiastically.

Elsa took a long drag from the straw of her drink, her eyes closing slightly as she basked in the tequila and lime going down her throat.

"I needed that." She put the glass down on the table and stared across at her friend. "So do you have any more surprises?"

Emma gave her a lopsided smile. "No. You?"

She saw Elsa's eyes widen a bit before darting down to the drink in front of her. "No."

Huh. Well, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Because whenever Emma finally had to tell Elsa what was really going on, it sounded like there may also be a story that Elsa would have to tell her. But for now, everyone could keep their secrets to themselves.


	6. Chapter 6

Killian looked up at the sound of the knock on his open office door to find Liam smiling at him.

"Stop standing there and come in," Killian told him.

Even though the brothers had an open door policy between the two of them, Liam always felt the need to wait until Killian invited him in.

"It's the polite thing to do," he would say.

Normally, this bugged Killian. The door is open, just walk in. But he was thankful for that superficial feeling of privacy today and, if he was being honest, he knew exactly why. This particular job involved a woman he slept with who was still consuming his thoughts.

He never meant to have feelings for her. They were adults. It was a night in a hotel room. But as soon as he got back from San Diego on Sunday, he had been thinking of how to contact Emma again. In a way, he had gotten his wish. It just wasn't how he had wanted this to go.

That was why his brother coming in to talk about this project was rubbing him the wrong way. He still couldn't get in the right mindset to talk to Liam about this stupid case.

Liam dropped himself into a chair on the other side of Killian's desk. "So how's all this going?" he asked, his arm making a grand gesture over all the papers on Killian's desk.

"It's going," Killian said before turning back to his computer screen.

"What do you have here?"

"Don't!"

Liam's hand paused in midair, mere inches from a piece of paper he was about to pick up off of Killian's desk, his wide eyes locked onto his brother's. "OK," he said sarcastically as he slowly pulled his hand back. "I didn't realize you were being territorial today."

Killian could only roll his eyes. "I'm not being territorial," he insisted. "I just have everything in the right place, and I'm trying to line up all the plans."

Liam leaned over, his elbows on his knees this time to keep his hands away, as he tried to read the papers upside down. "I think you're being awfully territorial," he said without looking up.

"What do you want?" Killian snapped.

Liam looked back up at his brother. "You seem stressed about this case, brother."

He leaned back in his chair and let out a long breath as he stared up at the ceiling. "I'm trying to get all of this organized on my schedule so I have something to show Emma tonight when we present her with our plan."

"You mean Emma and Neal," Liam replied.

"That's what I said."

"No, you just said Emma."

Killian sat up, his elbows anchored on the armrests of the expensive leather desk chair that he'd spent way too much money on. "Emma. Emma and Neal. What's the difference?" he said.

Liam stared back at him with concern on his face. "Are you sure you're OK with this case? It seems like something is bothering you about it."

Bothering him? Yeah, something was bothering Killian about it, starting with the fact that he had slept with Emma a day before her boyfriend fell off the deep end. What was bothering him was he had slept with a client before he got hired to rehab her boyfriend's image after he got drunk at Comic Con. What was bothering him was that he had probably been hired to fix a problem that he had unknowingly created.

What was bothering him was that he still couldn't stop thinking about her, and that was the biggest problem of all.

Because no matter how many press releases and movie premiere dates and celebrity parties he looked into, he couldn't help but get distracted by the thought of touching Emma Swan again. He wanted to feel her soft skin under his fingers. He wanted to see her eyes grow dark with passion for him like they did that night. He wanted to watch her lose all control, her body arching above him with his leather jacket slipping off her shoulder as she came hard with wild abandon.

Instead, he was sitting in an office with his brother across from him, asking him about cocktail parties.

"I'll be fine," Killian finally told his brother. "I just need to figure out how to make all of this fit into place."

"You said that already. And really, all of this?" Liam asked skeptically.

Killian looked at the pieces of paper strewn on his desk and then at the calendar he had set up on his computer. "OK, not all of it, but at least the good stuff." He began shuffling papers around until he found one in particular. "I'm starting with this," he said, handing the paper over to his brother.

Liam read the page, his head nodding in approval as he got further into the press release. "This is really brilliant," he said. "A science fiction movie premiere is the exact kind of thing _Misthaven_ fans would be paying attention to anyway."

"I know it's next week," Killian said. "But I thought if we could get a good event under our belts at the beginning, it would give us some momentum."

Liam smiled. "Yeah, this is good. Quick turn around, but we can do it. Plus, I've called in some help to give us a jump start on all of this."

"Who?"

"Robin," his brother replied.

Robin Locksley was one of the best social media managers in Hollywood. Need an Instagram strategy for a budding starlet? Call Robin. A Twitter meltdown that had to be scrubbed? Robin. Crisis management strategy needs some energy? The Jones boys would call Robin.

Liam was good at putting together the overall ideas and getting the message out there, but Robin was the guy who gave it a boost with extra likes and reblogs and whatever else the brothers needed to spread their ideas out to the world.

"So what time is he going to be here?" Killian asked.

"An hour," Liam said. "That should give us enough time to add a little piece from him into the strategy we present tonight to Emma and Neal."

"Sounds good."

Killian turned back to his screen and started typing random letters into a box on the proposed calendar he was putting together. Luckily, Liam got the hint.

"Send me what you have soon so we can show Robin when he gets here."

"Will do," he replied with a dismissive wave of his hand without looking up from the screen.

After Liam walked out, Killian could feel a tension release from his shoulders. He hated not telling his brother the details of what had happened. He never planned to tell Liam anyway. After all, it was his stupid brother locking him out of their hotel room that began all this mess. Now he was deep into a crisis management plan for the woman he slept with.

But despite his frustration with the situation and his anger towards Emma for not telling him she had a boyfriend, Killian still couldn't help but feel protective of her secret. Sure, it wasn't totally a secret since Neal knew. Still, it was a secret between Killian and Emma, and he wasn't some guy who bragged about his conquests or told people about his private life. Hell, he knew better than to do that. This was Hollywood after all. But there was something specific about Emma that made him want to keep quiet, even if it meant his brother may be hurt when he found out later knowing Killian hadn't said anything.

That's just the way it would have to be for now.

Robin showed up right on time an hour later and, true to his word, Killian had a preliminary calendar ready to go. The three of them gathered in the Joneses' lounge area complete with modern furniture and a glass coffee table. Robin took a seat in one of the gray chairs and stared across at Liam.

"So explain to me again how you guys got this gig."

Liam shifted in his seat a bit, not enough that Robin would notice but enough for Killian to see it.

"We gave a hand to NTS for parts of their Comic Con coverage so I guess someone over there remembered us when this came up," Killian explained.

"I bet it was Elsa," Robin said. "I helped her get some social media stuff together and she was asking about you guys."

"She was?" Liam asked.

"Yeah, wondering what you guys were working on. You know, usual Hollywood gossip. I guess it worked out well for everyone!" He smiled brightly at them and started digging in his green messenger bag for his laptop. "So what kind of plan do you have so far?"

"Well, I've got a calendar with some events that I'm going to pitch to them." Killian handed out some papers he had just printed out, proud that he had been able to pull even a basic plan together. "I told Liam about a movie premiere next week that I think would fit in great with our strategy, and there are a few more events here and there that may work."

"And I have some of our more subvert plans outlined so far," Liam said. "Pap photos from our normal contacts, maybe a well placed gossip item here or there. We'll slot them in between the media events that Killian has planned out."

Robin nodded as he started taking notes. "So you want me to find ways to push both of those out?"

"Exactly," Liam said. "Emma and Neal already posted a comment on Instagram yesterday that was a blockbuster."

"I saw that!" Robin replied. "Great idea."

"But we need more of that, and it needs a bigger reach."

And so Robin and Liam were off, planning and coordinating and brainstorming ideas for all of this. But as the two of them talked, Killian sat quietly lost in his own thoughts. These were all plans to convince the world that Neal Cassidy was in love with Emma Swan. But the real issue, the one nagging him so much right now, was the idea that Neal may not be the only man who wanted to be with Emma. That was going to be a real big problem for Killian Jones, the man stuck with rehabbing Neal's image.


	7. Chapter 7

Emma checked her house again to make sure all the decorative pillows were in the right place and her coffee table had been cleared. There weren't any take-out boxes on the kitchen counter and the stove top had been cleaned off. She even made sure the bathrooms were spotless. All of them.

All of it was to make sure she made a good impression on Killian. She wanted him to think that she had a nice place and that she was put together and everything was just right.

Even if everything was very much wrong, because everything was very much a lie.

When Emma had agreed to this whole plan on Tuesday, she thought it would be fine. Just a little white lie here or there to help out a co-star she had worked with for so long. She considered Neal a friend, and she had no problem with helping him out when he needed it. Plus, it was for the show. She loved this show and her character. She loved the cast and the crew and the writers and even the security guard at the front gate of the studio who greeted her with a warm smile every morning. She would do anything to keep this show running, to keep everyone in a job, and to keep giving the show's fans what they wanted.

All of that was fine and good, but this week proved that it was easier said than done, especially when there were things not said.

She had been able to keep her head down and not get dragged too far into the fake relationship drama this week. The day after the initial Instagram post went up, Emma's dinner with Elsa was a disaster. She kept her cool and was able to keep her story straight. She steered the conversation away from dangerous territory when she didn't have any made-up answers yet to Elsa's questions. But the fact remained that she had been lying to Elsa the whole night. She got home and couldn't go to sleep, the guilt eating away at her.

And now Killian Jones, the man she slept with a week ago, was coming over to her house to help her plan how to sell her relationship — her very fake relationship — to the rest of the world. She would also have to convince him that her feelings for Neal were real.

But in reality, all she wanted was Killian. She hadn't seen him since that fateful meeting in Regina's office, but she also still hadn't been able to forget him. Liam? Maybe she would recognize him if she ran into him at a restaurant or something. But that's only because she wasn't paying attention to him. Her entire focus had been on Killian and his reaction — and it wasn't good.

So instead of inviting him to her house to have a romantic dinner or wild passionate sex with him wearing his leather pirate jacket as he took what she wanted to give him, he would be here for work stuff. And it wasn't even real honest work stuff! It was a stupid lie that he was going to promote.

The doorbell rang and Emma took a quick look at herself in the mirror by the front door. She had chosen an off the shoulder red sweater with a pair of jeans, topping it off with her hair pulled back in a messy bun and just a little make up. Nothing crazy, but she definitely had a thing for lip gloss and this one popped and made her lips shiny. She was casual but chic. Attractive enough for a television star or a pirate to find her pretty.

But she got all hyped up for nothing.

"Hey," Neal said casually when she opened the door.

"Hey, come on in," she said, quickly moving out of his way.

He nodded and walked through the front entry towards her living room. "You know, I don't think I've been here since that party you had last year."

"Oh, that was an epic party."

To be fair, it was. She somehow ended up on her back patio by the pool at five o'clock in the morning with two Oscar-winning writers and Elsa. They were all comparing notes on different styles of writing that Emma knew nothing about but still found so intriguing.

In fact, that whole night had been pretty cool. She had invited people who brought friends she had never met before. New faces, up and coming actors, a few people she hadn't seen in months. Some old friends, some new acquaintances. Emma prided herself on being a good host and making sure everyone felt welcome at her house.

She would be trying the same thing tonight, but there was at least one guest that she wasn't all that sure would go along with her plan no matter how much effort she put into it.

"You know, that party was the night I took Tamara home," Neal told her.

"Really? The actress?" she asked.

"You sound surprised."

Emma shrugged. "I thought she came with her boyfriend, who was with friends of mine."

Neal gave her a sheepish grin. "She did."

"Gotcha." Emma took a deep breath and tried to lighten the mood. "So then I guess you shouldn't get another girlfriend who is dating someone else and we'll be able to sell this charade."

"Guess so." Neal turned to the back windows of Emma's living room, looking out on the pool with green trees along a garden wall. "Listen, Emma. I'm really sorry I dragged you into all of this."

She just waved her hand in the air. "It's no big deal. I've learned how to say 'No,' in this city, so there's nothing you dragged me into that I didn't agree with."

"But why did you agree to it?"

Emma shrugged. "It's for the show, right?"

"Right."

The bell rang and Emma took a nervous breath, trying to get her game face on. Neal's eyes found hers and he gave her a half hearted smile. "Well, let's start the show."

Emma nodded in agreement and headed for the door, opening it enough for Elsa to immediately get her arms around her friend.

"Hey, Emma!"

She was a little more cheerful than normal and hugged a little too long. That's what usually happened when she caught Elsa in work mode as opposed to normal friend mode. It wasn't a bad thing. At least it put Emma in the right mindset for what was to come next. After all, this was a work thing, not a friend thing.

"You remember the Jones brothers," Elsa said.

That's when Emma realized that Killian and Liam had been standing right behind Elsa in the doorway.

Emma gave them a fake acting smile, hoping they would assume it was the real thing.

"Yes, it's good to see you again." She stuck her hand out for Liam to shake. "Thanks for coming."

"Thanks for having us," Liam said, showing off with a smile to match Elsa's.

"Yes, thank you."

Killian took her hand and gave it a small shake before quickly moving into the house. It was probably for the best anyway. He obviously either didn't want to dwell on their night together in San Diego or didn't want to even remember it. It would be best for both of them to just let it go, especially since Emma supposedly had a boyfriend or whatever.

"Why don't you guys come in and we can get settled and talk about your ideas."

Everyone headed back into her living room before a few more pleasantries were exchanged. Emma even went so far as to go to the kitchen to bring back bottled water and some lemon squares she had made last night after her dinner with Elsa. She tended to be a stress baker and after the last few days, she definitely needed to beat some eggs and stir some dough to get out her aggression.

"These are amazing," Liam said with his mouth half full with a lemon bar.

"You should try her chip bars. They're amazing!" Neal said. "It's like a cookie, but it's a bar like a brownie, and it's got all kinds of chips inside. Chocolate and white chocolate and whatever the other ones are." He turned to her and smiled. "What are the other ones, babe?"

Emma was a little surprised by the "babe" he threw in there — she would have to give him a little credit for selling their lie like that. "They're butterscotch."

"Butterscotch." He reached for his own lemon bar. "We had this really emotionally intense scene to do for an episode last season so Emma tried to lighten the mood on set by bringing in baked goods."

"That sounds really thoughtful, Emma."

She turned to see Killian with a respectful smile to go along with the comment he had given her. It wasn't much, and it looked like it took a lot for him to give her a compliment like that, but she would take it. It was probably all she could expect to get from him under the circumstances. Well, all she could expect except loathing and anger and frustration. Stupid lies.

But she couldn't dwell on that for long with Elsa around.

"So, let's get down to business," Elsa said, pulling out folders from her bag. "I know paper is a little old school, but I figured this would be better than a Powerpoint or something boring." Elsa gave separate folders to everyone, each one a different color. "I thought we could start with the basic things that the network plans to do to help promote your relationship with regards to the show."

Emma could only nod before opening her folder to the first page. She had to give herself credit for actually listening as Elsa went over the plan for press releases and media inquires for interviews. But every once in awhile, she found her eyes wandering to Killian, who seemed calm and collected leaning back against the cushions of her sofa across from her. She had to give him credit. Based on his reactions, no one would ever assume that he had fucked her senseless a week ago.

Maybe he didn't care. Maybe he was trying to forget. But then there would be a moment when Emma was sure he remembered. A slight nervous movement of his fingers against the folder when Elsa mentioned something romantic. Normal people wouldn't notice, but Emma had taken a whole class about body language when she was majoring in theater in school. She noticed.

She especially noticed when Elsa called on Killian to start talking.

"Right." He straightened up a bit and put down the folder on the coffee table in front of him. It gave him the ability to look down at the papers in front of him instead of looking at Emma and Neal. "So our big plan is to have you attend the premiere for Star Crossed next week."

"That sounds awesome," Neal replied. "I've been looking forward to seeing that."

Killian pulled his lips into a tight smile. "Great," he said before quickly moving on. "So we have an initial itinerary for you for that night in the folder, and Liam is going to try and find a way to get you off the set early that day."

Liam seemed to give Killian a strange nod in response. Perhaps Liam had realized something was slightly off. But "Hey, I screwed your brother, which is why he's acting weird, and oh, this isn't my boyfriend," was probably not the right thing to say at the moment.

Instead, Liam took this weirdness as his cue to try and salvage the meeting. He started talking about Instagram and Twitter and some guy named Robin, who would help them promote their social media presence. As he talked, Killian started to fidget more, moving a little here, moving a little there. The casual non-committed aura he had been trying to maintain was starting to leak out and be replaced by nervous energy that he was trying to suppress. It didn't seem to be working.

"There is one more issue I want to bring up," Liam said. "I want to apologize first because I didn't give you much warning for this, but I was able to get some of the paparazzi to set up in front of your house tomorrow morning."

Well, that probably explained Killian's weird attitude.

"You did what?" Neal asked.

"Paparazzi," Liam said. "I know people don't like it, but it's a great way to get some notice on gossip sites and will give us a good buzz before the movie premiere."

"But I don't think that's what we want to do," Neal explained.

For maybe the first time since this whole charade started, Emma felt like she and Neal were definitely on the same page. There were some celebrities that would call ahead to let the paparazzi know where they would be. Emma was not one of those celebrities. She kept her head down, did her job, and would occasionally have a photo show up of her shopping at the Whole Foods in Hollywood. Giving the paps a head's up was a little too much.

Liam seemed to understand their objection but also wasn't going to do anything about it.

"I get it," he said, his hands going up in defense. "But I negotiated with them. The deal is that they'll be there to get a few shots of Neal leaving your house tomorrow and then they'll leave you alone until the premiere."

"Tomorrow?" Neal asked incredulously.

"Well, I mean, you are staying here tonight, right?" Liam asked. "We're just taking advantage of the fact that you are her boyfriend and you do boyfriend things like stay at her place."

Emma could feel Neal's body go stiff next to her, and she was trying very hard not to show her reaction. When they had agreed to this stupid lie, Emma assumed she could do this because she was an actor. She figured Neal would be approaching it the same way. You go out in public and act like a couple. And sure, couples stay overnight at each other's houses. It was just logical. But it seemed that this was one of those moments that Emma and Neal hadn't actually thought of when they agreed to all of this.

"Right, you're right." Neal nodded his head in agreement. "It just seems a little much, but if you can make sure I can grocery shop in peace this weekend, I guess we can agree to this."

He turned to look at Emma with a mix of desperation and sadness in his eyes.

"Yeah, we can do this," she said.

Emma grabbed his hand and squeezed it slightly, doing something that would be expected of a girlfriend.

"I like it!" Liam said enthusiastically as he clapped his hands together. "Well, I think that's all we have for you guys then unless you have any questions."

Neal shook his head, and Emma took it as her cue to get everyone out of the house as soon as she could. Well, everyone except for Neal apparently. He stood up quickly from his place next to her on the sofa.

"Well, I'm going to head up, babe. I'm tired." He gave a small wave to their guests who had also stood up across from him. "Good night, everyone."

And with that, Neal walked up the stairs to the second floor of Emma's house. She had no idea where exactly he was going — this was definitely not something they had planned before Liam brought up the photographers — and tried to make a quick mental note to check and see if the sheets on the guest bed were clean.

Emma ushered her three guests to the foyer and gave her friend Elsa a goodbye hug.

"Thanks for your help." She shook Liam's hand before turning to his brother. "And thank you as well."

Killian gave her hand a quick but polite shake that sent shivers up her spine. There was something about his hands that drove her wild. It happened a week ago and again tonight. She once again cursed this stupid lie and the stupid rules she had agreed to.

Then she watched as they turned away and started walking out the door. Except Killian decided at that moment to stop walking.

"Oh, I forgot I wanted to mention a few details about the premiere." He turned to Liam and Elsa with a smile. "Why don't you guys go ahead while I talk to Emma. I'll see you at home?"

Liam shrugged and exchanged an odd glance with his brother. "OK, I'll see you later."

He turned and put his hand on the small of Elsa's back to politely usher her out and closed the door behind him.

Killian turned back to Emma, his polite smile gone, replaced with a bitter sneer.

"Do you want to tell me what the fuck is going on?" he said in a quiet voice bubbling with anger.

"What's going on?" Emma asked.

She wasn't an Oscar-winning actor or anything, but she was damn good at her craft. It was taking some effort to sell their fake relationship, but she and Neal were doing a pretty good job at it. There was no way Killian suspected they were faking it — even though they were faking it.

Killian took a step closer, glancing over Emma's shoulder to presumably make sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation.

"You slept with me," he said.

Emma stood up straighter to match his posture. "I did."

"You slept with me. Your boyfriend found out. He went on a drunken bender, and you thought it would be fun to make it hurt more by hiring me to clean up the mess I created."

"What?"

"I was the mistress, Emma. That was me." He pointed deliberately at his chest. "Or whatever you call a man you sleep with when you're with someone else."

Emma stared at him, trying to sort out exactly why he was confronting her. Did he think she was a cheater? Was he blaming himself for Neal's drinking binge because Neal thought his girlfriend cheated on him with a leather-wearing pirate?

"Killian, this has nothing to do with you," she tried to say reassuringly.

"Nothing to do with me?" he asked incredulously. "I don't know if that makes me feel better or worse."

He stepped back from her and dragged his hand through his hair in frustration. Emma was stunned. She was not expecting this kind of reaction from Killian, and she didn't know how to respond to it either. He honestly thought this was because of him — and that wasn't a good thing. It wasn't an ego thing like he was some man who was trying to brag about what he had caused. Killian seemed upset and hurt, and honestly, Emma couldn't blame him. She would feel the same way if she was in his shoes.

"Listen, this isn't your fault."

Emma tried to reach for him, to put a reassuring hand on his arm. Instead, he flinched and pulled away. Emma felt something tighten in her chest, and she pulled her hand back as if she had come close to touching a hot burner on the stove.

"I can't explain things right now, and I'm sorry, but I will try to at some point."

He just looked back at her and sneered. "What good is that going to do, Emma?" He looked around again, obviously nervous that they weren't alone in her house. "It doesn't change the fact that I spent an earth-shattering night with you—"

"Earth-shattering?" Emma asked in a quiet voice.

"Not that it matters now," Killian replied bitterly. "Because now I realize it was just you cheating on your boyfriend, who ended up drunk in a gutter in San Diego the next night, which I'm sure is no coincidence."

Emma scoffed. "It was a coincidence."

"Really?"

She stared back at him. "Yes, really."

"So Neal didn't mind that his girlfriend fucked the guy who is supposed to fix his image now?" Killian moved closer to her. Not close enough to invade her personal space or intimidate her but definitely close enough that she noticed. "You used me, and I don't understand why. And you know what? At this point, I don't want to know anyway."

Killian turned and grabbed his messenger bag off the floor by the door. But with his back to her, she couldn't see him. He wouldn't look at her again. Despite the fact that he was accusing her of cheating on her boyfriend, and despite the fact that he had yelled at her about it, she desperately wished he would turn around again. She just wanted him to look at her one more time with his stormy blue eyes.

Instead, he only gave her a quick glance over his shoulder.

"I won't mention our night together again," he said quietly. "I'm going to fix Neal's image because that's my job and I'm damn good at it."

Emma let out a brief sigh. "Thank you."

He gave her a slight nod and turned toward the door, his hand resting on the handle. "But I want to make sure one thing is clear," he said. "When this job is over, I hope I never have to see you again."

And with that, he walked out the door, leaving Emma to stand in the foyer of her house, alone, with his words leaving a sting that she suspected wouldn't go away.


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey, Emma!"

She smiled at the woman they affectionately called Granny, the head of craft services, as she handed over a Greek salad with extra feta cheese, just the way Emma liked it.

"Just so you know, Ruby is with me today making those green smoothies that are good for you but taste disgusting."

"That is the perfect description of those," she said.

"She keeps insisting they're great for boosting your stamina." Then Granny gave her a wicked smile and raised her eyebrows. "I'm assuming you may need some of that after the pictures from this weekend."

_Ugh, gross._

"Thanks, Granny. But I'm good for now."

She tried to give the woman a teasing smile, hoping it covered any potential bitterness she was holding on to before heading off to her trailer for some peace and quiet. At least she had practiced her response considering Granny wasn't the first person on set to say something like that.

On Saturday morning, Neal finally emerged from her guest bedroom around nine o'clock in the morning. He was wearing the clothes he had on the night before, but his shirt was all wrinkled, which made Emma suspect he had slept in it. His hair was a disheveled mess and he looked a little bleary eyed.

"Morning," he said. "Hope I haven't overstayed my welcome."

Emma stood up from the stool at her kitchen counter and smiled. "Nope," she replied. "And the coffee just finished brewing so you have perfect timing."

He gave her a weak smile and followed her over to the coffee machine. "Are the photographers outside yet?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah. I took a peek about a half hour ago when I came down and they're all hanging out ready to go."

"You have to give Liam credit," Neal replied. "He definitely knew how to get a plan rolling."

Emma reached out and gave his hand a light squeeze. This was definitely not the ideal situation for either of them, but they were in this together. They had agreed to this. Emma would hold up her end of the deal for the show, and she knew she could count on Neal to do the same.

She let go and nodded towards her kitchen cupboard. "You want some coffee before you go?" she asked.

"That would be awesome."

She opened the door right above the coffee maker and started to reach for a plain black mug when Neal stopped her.

"Do you have a travel mug I could borrow maybe?"

"Travel mug?"

He shrugged. "I just thought maybe it would be a good prop for the paps to get a picture of. You know, like 'If you couldn't figure out that Neal stayed at Emma's house, here's his travel mug of coffee!'" He added some extra emphasis on the end, acting as if he was one of those so-called journalists on an entertainment show.

"Is this part of that improv training you're always talking about?" she asked.

He smiled. "I don't talk about it _that_ much."

Emma gave him a skeptical look, although she had to give him some credit. It actually was a brilliant idea. Apparently, he was as good of an actor off the set as she knew him to be on set. She started rummaging around her cupboards, trying to find a travel mug with a lid that matched. Then she remembered she already had one sitting on her counter that she hadn't put away yet. It was another one of the items in her Comic Con gift bag. She hadn't seen it until she unpacked the bag when she got home. It must've been hidden by the bottle of Comic Con wine that she ended up sharing with Killian.

Along with her onion rings.

And her body.

She had shared quite a bit with Killian in San Diego.

She tried to focus on pouring a cup of coffee in a travel mug for her co-star so they could continue this fake relationship for the paparazzi outside. Emma made sure the lid was secure before handing it over to Neal.

"Ah, Comic Con," he said bitterly.

"Sorry, that's the only one I have with a cup and lid that match."

He stared down at the cup in his hand. "Maybe we wouldn't be in this mess if I had picked this to drink out of instead of the highball glass at the network's party."

"It's a temporary mess of a fake relationship," Emma tried to say reassuringly. "This will all be over soon."

He simply took a drink from the mug to cover up whatever response he had. It was probably for the best. Emma suspected it would've been another apology and she just couldn't deal with those anymore. She signed up for this. She knew what she was getting herself into.

Well, sort of. Killian Jones was not part of her plan. Killian Jones sternly controlling his voice as he chastised her because he didn't want her "boyfriend" to know they had slept together was not part of the plan. Killian being hired to fix something that wasn't broken wasn't part of the plan.

So she had to take what little victories she could. The paps took some photos then left her alone. She got to go grocery shopping in peace.

That was all fine and good until Emma set foot on the set this morning. Granny's raised eyebrows and innuendo were pretty much the norm for today. Everyone that Emma and Neal worked with had seen the photos and figured it was even more fair game to tease them about their "relationship." Sometimes it was a simple "What did you do this weekend?" with a knowing look on their face. Other times, it was people like Granny implying that they knew how lewd the relationship between the two co-stars had become.

They obviously knew nothing, but that didn't seem to stop them, which is why Emma decided it was probably best to eat her lunch in her trailer — alone. No one to watch her every move, no one to pick apart every little interaction with Neal to try and get supposed information they could leak to the gossip magazines.

Unfortunately, as she turned the corner to the row of trailers that included hers, she realized a quiet lunch would not be possible. Standing in front of her trailer's door were three men: Neal, Liam, and Killian. She stopped, thankful they hadn't seen her yet. Well, thankful that Killian hadn't seen her yet. He was standing there, hands on his hips, in black pants and a black dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He looked just as devilishly handsome as he did in front of her hotel room more than a week ago. Even without the leather coat, black clothes did something to that man's figure that made Emma want to rip them off.

Instead, she took a deep breath and put her game face on. _This is just another acting role._ She pulled her spine straight and started walking towards the group with a sense of confidence that she had perfected in acting school.

"Hey, guys," she said casually.

All three heads turned towards her, none faster than Killian, who was wearing dark modern sunglasses. She couldn't see his blue eyes, which meant she couldn't see the emotion he was hiding behind his glasses. She would just have to take a page from Neal's acting playbook and improvise. Neal gave her a small smile that only an actor could perfect. Liam seemed like he was genuinely happy to see her. But Killian? His mouth didn't move. No smile, no acknowledgment. Nothing.

"Good to see you!" Liam said next to his brother. "I hope we're not interrupting you."

He stepped in front of Killian, giving her arm a squeeze as he planted a chaste peck on her cheek.

"You're not interrupting."

"Good," he said. "I know this is a bit unannounced, but we thought we would stop by to go over some details for the premiere on Wednesday."

By Killian's body language, it was pretty obvious that Liam was lying about the "we thought." Killian didn't think of it. Killian didn't want to be here. It was just his brother's idea. Emma felt a pang of guilt thinking about it like that. Neal was hiding the fact that Emma wasn't his girlfriend. Killian was hiding the fact that he had slept with Emma. And Emma? She had two secrets: Neal wasn't her boyfriend, and Killian was her lover — or at least had been.

"It's OK, Liam," she said reassuringly as she started to walk up the stairs to her trailer. "Do you guys want to come in now and we'll iron out the details?"

Liam smiled and followed her in with enthusiasm followed by Neal and Killian, who particularly seemed apprehensive about walking into a small space with Emma's boyfriend and Emma herself, a woman he had chastised only a few day earlier.

"Sorry again to drop by like this, but we were already in the neighborhood."

Liam sat down and started to pull some paperwork out of his bag while his brother continued to stand, clearly conveying the fact that they were not just "in the neighborhood" and again, this definitely was not his idea.

Emma took a seat by Liam on her trailer's sofa with Neal pulling a chair up next to her and putting his hand on her knee. To everyone there, he probably looked like a doting boyfriend.

"So here's the itinerary that Killian has come up with."

Liam handed them papers with detailed plans for the night. They would leave from the studio's lot promptly at six p.m. in order to get to the red carpet at the El Capitan Theatre by seven. A limo from a local car service had already been hired by Killian to pick them up from the lot to get them there on time. Emma would get help from the show's hair and make-up team if that was approved by Regina (and Emma was sure it would be). Neal would get the same treatment. They both should wear something from their own closets.

"It will make you more authentic and believable as a couple if you wear something you own and may have been seen in before instead of going overboard with a stylist and all that," Liam explained.

Authentic my ass, Emma thought. She had to remind herself that this was just another role she was playing. That the authentic part wasn't necessary but the believable part was.

"Is there anything in particular you would suggest I wear?" Emma asked. "I have a red dress I wore during Comic Con that could work."

Emma saw Killian's jaw stressfully flex in reply. "That wouldn't be a good idea," he said.

"Well, I've worn it before so that would fit your criteria."

Killian stared back at her, his eyes growing dark. "It's too soon."

She looked at him and wondered what he meant by it. Too soon because she wore it at Comic Con? Or too soon because it would still be a raw memory in Killian's mind from that weekend? She realized her comment struck a nerve not only with him but her as well. She loved that dress and was so happy to wear it that weekend for all the press events. But she also remembered the way he looked at her at breakfast that morning. He looked like someone who has tasted forbidden fruit and still wanted more.

It probably didn't help that Emma was now really and truly forbidden fruit. A woman who was already taken even if she wasn't. A woman who was causing him pain with her lies.

She couldn't do this anymore.

She could lie to the public, she could tell half-truths to Elsa, she could continue to honor her promise to Regina that she wouldn't tell anyone that her relationship with Neal was fake. Well, almost anyone. There was one person she couldn't hold this back from any longer.

"So do you guys have any questions?"

Liam's voice pulled her out of her thoughts, out of this revelation that she just had, and she had no idea what to do or say next.

"I think we got everything. Right, babe?"

Emma looked over to Neal, who had spoken for them as if they were a real couple.

"Probably." Emma could barely reply, struggling to pull a few words together. "I'd like to look over the itinerary some more just in case, I think."

Neal smiled at her. "Take all the time you need, babe." He stood up and gave her a quick kiss on her forehead. "I got to get back to the set so can you handle it from here?"

Emma simply nodded, her brain racing trying to figure out what to do next with Killian while also juggling this job she was supposed to do where she acted like a good girlfriend. She wasn't sure she was doing well with either of them.

"Awesome!" Liam said as he also stood up. "I'll walk you out, Neal. I have to head over to the executive offices and get all this cleared with Elsa and Regina. I'm sure they'll be fine with it."

Neal walked over to Killian, who had insisted on standing during the entire meeting, leaning his lanky frame against the counter of Emma's kitchenette instead of joining the group on her sofa.

"Thanks for your help with all of this," Neal said, holding his hand out for Killian to shake. "I appreciate all the work you're putting in to clean up my mess."

Killian gave him a smile that Emma could tell was fake. "It's my job to help you out, and I plan on getting it done right."

Neal nodded and headed for the door, which Liam was kind enough to hold open for them as the two of them walked out.

That's when Emma realized she was alone with Killian. She could tell he had noticed the same thing because he seemed pretty eager to get out of her trailer as quickly as he could, pulling together his papers and shoving them in his messenger bag. Emma realized this was the best chance she would get. She saw an opportunity to make things right — or at least make things easier for Killian so he would stop blaming himself for the current situation.

He started making his way towards the door without a word before she finally found her voice.

"Stop."

Killian sighed, his shoulders slumped, the strap of his messenger bag falling off his shoulder.

"What?" he said bitterly.

"We need to talk before you leave."

Emma moved so she was closer to him, but not too close, just in his line of sight. Her hip brushed up against the counter he had been leaning against, the granite warm from his body standing there earlier.

He finally forced himself to turn to her, putting his bag down to cross his arms in front of him in a pose that Emma clearly remembered from her acting classes as being defensive.

"I have nothing left to say to you, Emma."

She stood a little taller and took a deep breath. "Well, I have something to say to you."

Killian looked at her, the air between them crackling with tension. His eyes narrowed, his jaw flexed again, but his arms remained crossed over his chest. She could tell he was doing everything he could to control whatever emotions he wanted to suppress and it wasn't working very well. Instead, he took another deep breath and nodded at her, wordlessly encouraging her to go on even though he didn't seem like he wanted to hear what she said.

And really, did she want to hear what she was about to say? Her revelation while Liam was talking a few minutes ago seemed so vivid and sure and logical. But was she going to start doubting herself now? She told Regina she wouldn't tell anyone, but Killian wasn't just anyone, at least not to her. Not now.

"Neal isn't my boyfriend."

Killian's arms fell to his sides, his jaw that was once flexing with frustration had now gone slack. He was staring at her with such confusion that she worried she may have broken his brain. She nervously shifted on her feet and looked down at her hands, which she had started to fidget with apprehensively.

"Are you going to say anything?" she finally asked him.

"Repeat what you just said."

She looked back up at Killian. He was staring at her with his blue eyes, which had become dark pools of desire.

"I said Neal isn't my boyfriend."

Killian finally started to move, reaching down to lock the door of her trailer before turning towards the windows to make sure the blinds were closed. Then he stared back at her again.

"Explain," he demanded.

She took a deep breath. "Neal got drunk at Comic Con, but I don't know why," she said quickly. "So Regina thought it would be a good idea to fix his image and help the show if we pretended to be a couple. But we're not really together or—"

She stopped mid-sentence, startled as Killian took two determined steps towards her before his lips were on hers. He kissed her with an intensity she wasn't expecting, as if he was a man who had come in from wandering the desert and found a glass of water. Her hands reached for the collar of his button down shirt and tugged him closer to her. She could tell it had an effect on him as he grabbed her neck, angling her head in the perfect way to deepen their kiss.

Emma felt light headed, barely able to gain any sense of sanity as his kisses drove her wilder. Her hands scrambled to pull him closer, fisting in his shirt, tugging on his collar, finding any place they could grab him to get him closer to her.

Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled herself up, pushing her body flush with his, feeling how hard he was through his pants as he pressed against her leg. She had wanted this since their night together in San Diego, wanted it since she saw him walk into Regina's office and had to pretend to be in a relationship with someone else when all she wanted was to be with him.

Her body was pulsing with desire, and she knew Killian could tell how she felt. His hands briefly left her body, pushing her away slightly so he could get a good grip on her hips and haul her up onto the kitchenette's counter, sending her Keurig pods flying in different directions. She didn't care. She had no fucking care in the world at this moment except for Killian's hands on her body.

He quickly went to work unzipping the hoodie she was wearing, pulling away only slightly to take in the sight of her breasts. She was thankful that the wardrobe department insisted she wear black bras under her dark costume. She could tell by the way that Killian hungrily stared at them that he was more than thankful for that black fabric, or perhaps he really didn't care.

Killian greedily placed his hands on her breasts, eliciting an involuntarily moan from Emma's lips that he silenced with another kiss just as strong as the others. She figured she needed to return the favor, wanted to return the favor really, as her hands found the buttons on his shirt. She started fumbling before finally getting the top three buttons undone and snaking her hands into the opening. He wasn't like most men in Hollywood who shaved their chests. He was a real man with dark chest hair that she dragged her fingers through.

As a reward for her work, Killian moaned into her mouth before capturing her lower lip in his teeth and gently pulling away from her. She could feel the sensation of it pulse through her body, down to her toes as they curled up in her tennis shoes. It caused her to wrap her legs around him, pulling him closer to kiss him harder.

"Ms. Swan?" The production assistant knocked loudly on her door. "Ms. Swan?"

Emma pulled away quickly and took a deep breath, hoping it would make her voice sound calm. "Yeah?"

"Wardrobe needs you in five."

"I'll be right there."

She gave Killian a nervous smile and loosened the grip her thighs had around his hips as his hands fell from her body. He took a step back but still stood in front of her, staring at her with dark eyes and his lips swollen with desire. His hair was disheveled and pointing in different directions and his shirt was a mess, untucked in one spot while unbuttoned and hanging open around his neck, exposing his chest to her. He looked thoroughly ravished.

Emma suspected she looked the same and jumped down from the counter, sending more Keurig pods tumbling to the ground. Killian started to bend over to pick a few of them up.

"Just leave them," she said quickly. "You need to pull yourself together."

He gave her a lopsided smile that she genuinely returned. Her eyes lingered on the buttons of his shirt as he fumbled with them. Then she looked down and started to zip up her hoodie, hiding her black bra from him again.

"How's this?"

She looked up to see his blue eyes and a devilish grin. "Like you were talking to me about a movie premiere?"

"That didn't sound convincing."

She shook her head. "Please don't talk to anyone when you leave," she said. "Your voice is still, uh…"

He simply nodded in understanding. "Got it."

Emma walked over and reached up to smooth out a part of his hair that he had missed. "OK, now I think you look presentable again."

He smiled. "Thank you."

Emma stepped away and stared at him. He definitely still seemed like someone that had had his way with her two minutes earlier, but at least he was more put together than before.

"Put your head down when you leave, don't say anything to anyone, and you should be fine," Emma said.

Killian gave her a small nod and walked over to the messenger bag he had dropped on the floor. Swinging the strap over his shoulder again, he looked back up at her.

"Just one last thing."

He stepped up and gave her another kiss. It wasn't as deep or sensual, but Emma could tell he was holding back. Because despite their obvious need for one another, he at least was aware that there were things going on around them at this very moment that needed to be handled. He pulled back slightly, his eyes staring into hers.

"Can we talk about this later?"

She nodded. "Later," she said quietly.

Killian pulled away from her, his hands slipping from her body, and ran his fingers through his hair again.

"Killian? Can you please not tell anyone about me and Neal?" she asked. "I promised Regina I wouldn't say anything, but I just…"

Emma couldn't put together those last words yet. That she wouldn't tell anyone, but she just couldn't keep it from Killian.

Luckily, he seemed to understand. He gave her a smile and a nod in understanding before steeling the features of his face and walking to the door he had so deftly locked earlier. She noticed his fingers fumbling with the lock until he finally flipped it open and walked out, keeping his head down just as she had asked him.

Once the door was shut, Emma quickly started moving. She headed into her small bathroom to run a brush through her hair and tame it as best she could. Then she splashed some water on her face, hoping it would cool the flush in her cheeks before the make-up people noticed it. She walked out and took one more look at herself in the full length mirror. Clothes seemed normal, hair looked alright now. Her cheeks were still red so she decided jogging to the wardrobe office would help her with a cover story.

Emma took one more breath to calm herself and try to get any thoughts of Killian Jones out of her mind. Then she headed out the door as Neal's girlfriend. Except this time, she didn't feel the tightness in her chest that normally accompanied this particular acting part.

Killian Jones knew her secret now, and that changed everything.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm reposting this collage from [shady-swan-jones](https://shady-swan-jones.tumblr.com/) that ran a month or so ago because I really think it captures this chapter.  
> 

Killian looked at himself in the mirror with two ties in his hand that he kept holding up to the collar of his shirt. Blue, black. Blue, black. Blue, black.

He let out a sigh and dropped both of his hands to his sides, staring at his reflection. For the premiere tonight, he had decided on a basic black button down shirt, so the black tie would give him a nice monochromatic look. But he was wearing a blue suit he bought a few years ago when he decided to try something a little different than black or gray. Milah, his girlfriend at the time, told him she loved it because it brought out the blue in his eyes. She left but the blue suit stayed.

She was also right. It did bring out the blue in his eyes, which is why he had chosen to wear it tonight. But would the blue tie match the blue suit?

He looked at the collar of his shirt, currently with the first two buttons undone, and wondered if he should just ditch the ties all together. He remembered that moment with Emma a few days ago. The way she moaned when he lifted her onto the counter, the way her legs wrapped around his waist, her hands sliding into his shirt as her nails dragged across his chest.

He closed his eyes and tried to take a calming breath. Ever since then, he had been trying to push it aside, either so he could get some work done or just so he could live his life. But those images would come flashing back, and he would find he needed to adjust his dress pants or come up with some excuse to not grab lunch with Liam so he could hide his raging hard on behind his desk.

He hadn't even spoken to her since then. Emma didn't try to reach him and he never tried to contact her. But she had already shared with him her secret. It was a secret that he believed, that he knew in his heart was true, even though she had been lying to him. He remembered the way her body responded to him that night in San Diego. He knew how she reacted to him in her trailer with his lips pressed against hers. Whatever conversation they had to have, and they really needed to talk about all of this, Killian didn't want to do it over the phone. He needed to see her.

Killian checked the mirror again. Black tie? Blue tie? Screw it. Emma liked him with his shirt unbuttoned so that's how he was going to wear it.

He walked over to his closet, tossing the ties back on to his tie rack, and put on his brown ankle boots that matched the brown belt he was already wearing.

Killian headed out of his bedroom to the small table he had near the front door of his apartment. On top of the table was a leather box he liked to call his "catch-all" because it caught everything he brought home. Wallet and watch. His cell phones. Keys. There was also a place for his cufflinks. He was just putting the last one in when there was a knock at his apartment door.

He smiled and shook his head as he opened it. "Why do you insist on doing that?" he asked.

Liam walked in wearing a gray suit and shut the door behind him. "I'm trying to be polite."

"You live three doors down the hall." Killian started stuffing things from his catch-all into his pockets. "I gave you a key for a reason."

"And you have a key to my place," Liam replied. "All I'm saying is it's polite to not barge in on a man in his private sanctuary."

"Private what?" Killian asked incredulously. "You make it sound like I'm going to walk in on you with a woman."

Liam opened his mouth and then quickly closed it. He was obviously hiding something — or rather, someone.

"So you pulled the sock trick at Comic Con and now you're implying that you're not alone in your apartment." Killian's eyes narrowed as he stared at his brother. "What aren't you telling me?"

Liam's eyes darted around nervously for just a bit before landing back on Killian's face. "Nothing," he replied. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing."

Killian realized he had answered that question way too fast by the way Liam tried to quickly hide the surprise on his face. But it was either that or Killian say "I slept with Emma Swan, and then I made out with her in her trailer, but it's OK because her relationship with Neal is fake. Or at least that's what she told me. We haven't actually talked—"

Nope. That was  _definitely_  not a conversation he needed to have with Liam. If his brother was keeping secrets, Killian didn't need to share his.

"You ready for tonight?" Liam asked him.

Killian started patting down all the pockets of his suit. "Keys, wallet, cell phones."

"Awesome," Liam replied. "Let's go."

The two of them headed out of Killian's apartment to the elevator that would take them down to the building's parking structure. It was just an unwritten rule between the two of them that on a night like this, Liam was always going to be the one to drive. At first, Killian hated this stupid rule, but he had come to realize that it actually was a good idea. Liam would always drive on a night that Killian was in charge of a plan so Killian could make sure everything was running smoothly from the passenger seat.

The younger brother pressed the elevator button and stuffed his hands in his pockets to once again make sure he had his phones.

"You wore the blue suit tonight?"

"Aye," he said apprehensively.

Liam turned and smiled at him. "It looks good."

"Thanks, brother."

The door dinged open in front of them and Killian headed in first, pressing the button for the parking lot.

"No tie though?" Liam asked. "That's not normal for you."

It was definitely not normal, but there was nothing about this premiere that was going to be normal.

"I decided to try something different," he said.

The elevator opened and the two of them climbed into Liam's Cadillac. His brother started the car while Killian pulled out his two pages of notes for the night. He had put most of them together before sending them off to Liam to add extra last-minute information this afternoon. It wasn't much — Killian always tried to be thorough with his notes — so Liam's additions amounted to some info about the car service and contact numbers for people involved. Elsa's number was at the top of the list since Misthaven was her network's show. The car service would be important in case there was traffic, and this was Los Angeles so there was always traffic. Robin was on the list since he would be there tonight representing a few of his clients including the Jones brothers.

Then there were two more numbers: Neal Cassidy and Emma Swan. Killian stared at them for a moment, trying to decide what to do next. Putting Emma's phone number in the contact list on his personal phone would be going a step too far, right? It's something a person would do if they were planning to call her or text her. It's something he should put into his work phone, not his personal one.

But then Killian remembered a few days earlier when Emma moaned as she kissed him in her trailer. They definitely did not have just a professional relationship. So he quietly added it to his personal cell with the caveat that he would use it only if absolutely necessary. Plus, adding it to his personal line would mean Liam wouldn't notice the number when it showed up on their work account, and he didn't need Liam asking him questions about that.

"Fumbling with your phone for a reason?" Liam asked from the driver's seat.

Killian's eyes snapped up, realizing his brother had noticed the existential crisis he was having about Emma's number. "Uh, I'm good," he quickly replied. "Just trying to decide if I need to call the car service and get an estimate on when they'll be there."

"I handled that before we left," Liam explained. "They're already on their way so we should be all set. You shouldn't use your personal phone for that anyway. The work phone is for work, which is why I write the bill off as a business expense on our taxes."

Killian rolled his eyes. "Aye, brother."

This was a conversation they had occasionally. Killian would do something for work and use his personal credit card or personal phone and Liam would get on his case about the taxes. Super annoying, but Killian would concede that his brother was better at managing their company's finances. Killian was the mainstream ideas guy who also knew the difference between there, they're and their, which is why Liam made sure any proposal for work or a press release had been edited by Killian first.

The two of them made a good team, which they were about to prove as Liam parked the car and they headed to the red carpet.

The word "red" was a bit of a misnomer tonight since the El Capitan was decked out in a navy blue carpet for the movie premiere. A dark backdrop with the movie's logo on it was already set up behind the carpet so anyone who came through would add some extra free publicity for the film.

Emma and Neal would definitely provide that. There was a larger than usual crowd of photographers there that night. Most of them were professional photographers hired by the news services and wire agencies, not the paps that Liam had to deal with on a regular basis. The pros could also be a bit vicious as they yelled at the celebrities walking the carpet, but at least both sides understood the deal and what boundaries existed.

Liam and Killian stood with some other publicists at the beginning of the carpet waiting for their clients to arrive, and the brothers spotted Robin off to the side of the group. He had his signature iPad with him in an industrial case — he was notorious for breaking them — while typing a text quicker than anyone Killian had ever seen.

"Hey, man," Killian said as he got closer.

Robin just nodded and kept typing until he finally pressed something on the screen with a flourish.

"Hello, Joneses!" he said as he looked up with a smile on his face. "Sorry about that. I'm juggling a few Twitter and Instagram accounts. Please tell me your clients are going to help me tonight."

"Emma promised to post a selfie of the two of them on Instagram so we should be good," Liam said.

Maybe good for Robin but not good for Killian. He wasn't sure if it was better or worse that he knew Emma's lie. If he didn't know, he would just swallow his pride, finally concede that the other guy won, and shrug off any selfies from Emma or anyone else. But now that he knew it was a lie, he knew that Neal didn't really care when he put an arm around Emma, and that made the idea of any pictures of the two of them worse. Killian was so close but unlike Neal, he couldn't touch.

"Holy shit," Robin muttered.

Killian turned in the direction Robin was looking and saw long legs in thigh-high leather boots stepping out of a black Town Car. Then he saw who they belonged to: Emma.

Damn, he definitely couldn't touch that tonight even though he wanted to so much, especially when he saw the rest of the outfit that went with it. A black dress with beaded details and leather pieces sewn in different places. It was almost as if it was a dress version of his cosplay from Comic Con. But that would be impossible because she would never wear something like that as a nod to him.

Or would she? The fact that he even thought it was a legitimate question made him feel weird.

"I didn't expect that to be in her closet," Liam said quietly.

Robin nodded in agreement. "Could you imagine those legs wrapped around you?"

Yes, Killian could imagine that because she had done that to him only a few days ago. And while he had to admit that this conversation was inappropriate, he also couldn't help thinking the same thoughts. Because Emma really did look stunning and her outfit was making him think some bad things.

Instead, he took a deep breath, put on a big smile, and stepped up to greet his clients.

"You guys look great." Killian shook hands with Neal first before leaning over and giving Emma a peck on her cheek, lingering just long enough to smell the lavender perfume she was wearing for the night.

Liam also greeted them warmly and introduced them to Robin.

"So you're the guy who insisted I take photos for my Instagram tonight?" Emma asked.

"Gently recommended with some force," Robin replied flirtatiously.

"Already posted one from the car ride over so I hope that helps."

Emma gave him a warm smile, and Killian thought Robin was about to fall over with delight. But rather than allow Robin to flirt with Emma in front of her "boyfriend," Killian decided it was best to leave his brother and the social media guru behind.

Instead, he started to steer Neal and Emma — his clients — through the photographers and then a select group of media for on-camera questions. Tonight, it would be very selective. He wanted certain outlets to have "exclusive interviews" or answers that only they would get from Neal and Emma. Better to be elusive and make people want more than to saturate the market until it's overkill.

At some events like this, Killian would have to walk ahead of his clients with a sign so the photographers knew who was on the carpet. But not now. Everyone knew Emma and Neal, and everyone was paying attention to them. Photographers were yelling for the couple to look their way, and the fake couple played their part with huge smiles on their faces for the cameras.

Killian reached out and gently touched Emma's arm, her bare skin almost scorching his hand, and he noticed that she felt the same shiver.

"Time to move on," he said quietly.

Emma gave Neal's hand a little tug, and Killian felt a tug on his heart. He knew it was all fake, but he so wished that Emma was holding his hand and walking this carpet with him.

After two more photo stops, it was on to a gauntlet of entertainment media. Killian again grabbed Emma's arm to move them to different reporters or would let his hand linger on her back — hopefully not for too long — to gently steer her to the next one.

"What's it like being out here together?" one reporter asked them.

"You make such a cute couple!" another gushed.

"How have you been doing?"

Neal visibly stiffened at that question even though he had to expect that one to be asked. After all, Killian knew Neal wasn't an idiot. Perhaps just hearing it be asked was tough when this was all a charade based on his personal life. But like any good actor, Neal seemed to brush off his momentary surprise to come up with a perfect answer.

"I'm doing much better, thank you," Neal said as he smiled at the reporter. "I'm lucky that the network is standing behind me, and the fans have been so encouraging, and I'm very thankful to have Emma supporting me."

Neal leaned over and gave Emma a peck on the cheek, lingering a little to sell the kiss for the cameras. It made Killian ball up his hands in fists. He knew this was all an act, he knew that Neal really didn't mean anything by that kiss. But dammit, Killian wanted to be the one who was close to Emma like that, and not just because he was acting but because he really wanted to be with her.

Instead, he had to be content with putting his hand on her back again, a piece of the leather on her dress under his fingers, as he ushered the couple inside.

The lobby was packed with stars chatting with each other along with more publicists and movie execs and any other fancy person that had managed to get a ticket to get in. Killian pushed his way through the crowd to leave a path for Emma and Neal behind him. They ascended a staircase on the far side of the lobby up to the balcony section of seats.

"These are close to the nosebleeds, aren't they?" Neal asked with a teasing smile.

Killian shrugged. "It was the best I could get on late notice. I hope you don't mind."

The star clapped him on the back. "Don't mind at all," Neal replied. "You've really done a good job for us tonight, Killian."

Emma pulled away slightly from Neal but still held on to his hand. "Yes, you did an amazing job," she said, giving his arm a small squeeze.

"Well, I'm glad I could help," he said.

And really, he was at least happy to help them with all of this. Maybe it was because he knew the truth, but watching Neal navigate the media made him think that perhaps this wasn't as easy for Neal as he was letting on.

That didn't change the fact that Neal was still holding Emma's hand and about to see a movie with her. Killian stood there and watched them head into the theater to presumably find their seats. As soon as they were out of his sight, he felt his shoulders fall a bit as he shoved his hands in his pockets. Just because he knew the whole thing was a charade didn't mean he had to like it, and he definitely didn't like it.

One of the few good things about tonight's premiere compared to other events like this was that the studio had an open bar set up in the mezzanine outside the theater's balcony. As an added bonus, it had bar stools.

Killian asked the bartender for a Rum and Coke, his favorite cocktail for a time like now. It was straightforward and honest. No frilly umbrellas, no excessive amounts of fruit on the side, no way for a bartender to mess it up. He grabbed a few singles from his pocket and tossed them in the tip jar.

"You don't want to see the movie?" the bartender asked.

"Oh, I'm the PR guy," he replied. "Just here for a client."

The bartender nodded in understanding. "Well, if you need anything, let me know."

Then the bartender winked at him. Of course that would happen to Killian. At a time when he was having a crisis about how he felt about a woman, it was the gay bartender who was actually interested in him. It wouldn't do much for his romantic life, but Killian was still a bit flattered. At this point, he had to take what he could get, especially considering the woman he wanted to be with was in the theater watching a movie with another man.

For an hour, Killian sat there, nursing his drink while he waited. A few public relations guys from the movie studio stopped by to say hi. He had worked with them last year when some eastern European country started giving one of their movies negative publicity for the way it portrayed the country. It was the only international trip Killian and Liam ever had to take for their jobs, but it helped make the movie a success.

After the PR guys left, Killian sent a few texts to Liam. He was downstairs with Robin working on the social strategy and checking with Elsa on any issues the network had with the coverage. Then more down time.

Killian was on his second Rum and Coke, paging through the entertainment section of Reddit, when he heard a woman's voice at the end of the bar.

"Do you have any prosecco?"

He stilled, almost too afraid to look over. Then he casually took a sip of his drink and glanced in the direction of the woman's voice.

It was Emma.

He turned back to his phone and touched his contacts icon. The list came up and he started scrolling through it until he found her number. His finger hovered over her name. Should he risk it? He took a casual glance around, so as not to arouse suspicion. There were two guys at one end of the bar, a few random people hanging around, the bartender, and Emma.

"Need another?" the bartender asked flirtatiously.

Killian just shook his head without looking up, his finger still hovering over Emma's contact information. Screw it, he thought.

Once he made up his mind, there was no turning back. No second guessing. He clicked on her name, then the "message" icon. A text box popped up, and he started typing.

_Those boots look good on you tonight._

Quick and simple, nothing too serious or heavy handed. He heard Emma's phone beep and took another drink from his glass, his head tilting up enough to see her looking around in his peripheral vision. He could tell she had spotted him as he put his glass back down on the bar, even though he still hadn't actually looked in her direction.

Three little dots began to blip on his phone screen before a new text popped up.

_I wore them for you. The dress too._

He watched as the dots kept blinking, waiting for Emma to continue.

_They reminded me of a dashing pirate from Comic Con. Especially his leather coat._

Killian was thankful he wasn't taking a drink because he would've choked on it. Not only was she still thinking about that night, but she picked out what to wear tonight because of him. Because of their night together. Killian couldn't help but smile.

_Well, you do look rather dashing,_  he replied.

He paused, thinking of whether he should text the next line. Then he just decided to do it.

_I love the leather on you just as I did that night._

This time, he actually turned to see her reaction. It was casual and not obvious, at least he wasn't trying to be obvious. But he could see over the rim of his glass that she was smiling. And typing some more.

_Perhaps we could discuss our love for pirate clothing another night? Maybe Saturday?_

He smiled.  _Well, I do owe you a real conversation._

Killian saw the flashing dots appear in his text messenger, then disappear. Appear and disappear. Perhaps he pushed too far. Perhaps that was too much? He wasn't sure, but when he turned to her again, he could see her forehead wrinkled in concentration. Then he heard the ping of his phone.

_We do need a real conversation, don't we?_

He picked his phone up from the bar and started typing a response.

_How about my place on Saturday. Maybe dinner? You would have to tip toe past Liam's apartment, but I have faith in you._

Killian heard the beep on her phone and saw the smile return to her face.

_You live down the hall from your brother? That's adorable. :)_

Adorable? He would've chosen loyal or brotherly or something. He would need to have a conversation with her about the "adorable" thing. Then his phone beeped again.

_I'll bring some baked good and my boots._

He smiled and couldn't help but slowly turn to see her reaction. But he found the end of the bar empty and only caught a glimpse of the back of her dress as she headed back into the theater with her drink.

Despite that, he ordered one more Rum and Coke. This time, it was to keep his happy buzz going after his texts with Emma. Maybe he could actually find a way to make this relationship with her work.

Maybe.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of notes this week! First, this chapter is one of the reasons for the M rating. If you like smut, enjoy! If you don’t, you can skip it.
> 
> Thanks again to [@shady-swan-jones](https://shady-swan-jones.tumblr.com/) for my quote art for this week. So pretty! And another thanks to [@idristardis](https://idristardis.tumblr.com/) for her awesome beta reading skills on this whole piece.

 

Emma felt like she was some sort of criminal trying to hide something. Although to be fair, she was trying to hide something: her relationship with Killian Jones.

The whole plan to sneak into Killian's apartment was like some sort of movie heist. She pulled into one of the visitor spots in the parking garage under his building. Then she used the codes he had given her to break into the owners' section of the lot and then the owners' elevator lobby. At one point, she found herself ducking between cars in fear of a man walking down the aisle to his car. She thought he looked like Liam but could tell as he got closer and gave her a weird stare that it was just some normal resident who probably thought she was crazy.

It was very different than this morning when she purposely made sure people saw her open her front door for Neal to leave. He spent the night at her place — again — so the paparazzi could get some photos — again. At least he was nice enough to bring bagels for breakfast this morning.

But when he left and the paparazzi drove away, Emma immediately started baking to ease her stress. This time, it was her classic chocolate chip cookies but with a twist. She always loved the smell of mint and when she bought her house, she planted some mint in a pot on her back porch. That thing grew quick so she was always trying to find a way to use it. Today, it has been crushed up and added to her cookies. Not too much, but enough to make it interesting.

She just hoped Killian would like them. Because really, he was the only person she was trying to impress tonight.

The elevator doors dinged open, and Emma slid to the side of the car to hide herself. Then she peeked around the door and into the corridor. No sign of the older Jones brother.

Emma headed out and made it a point to find the apartment that Killian had said belonged to Liam. She quickly moved past it as quietly as possible, very aware that she probably looked like a crazy person. But she had promised Regina she wouldn't tell anyone her relationship with Neal was fake. Liam was working for the studio, and for Emma and Neal, on the assumption that their relationship was real. She wasn't prepared to have to explain to him why she was in his building on his floor to visit his brother. It would be too strange.

Plus, she had already broken her promise to Regina once. Killian now knew the truth. She didn't want to have to break that promise again. So yeah, better to sneak around for now. Liam could find out later.

Emma knocked quietly on Killian's door. She had warned him she was on her way, which is probably why he opened it and pulled her in so quickly.

His lips were immediately on hers, hungry and hot, and she was more than happy to oblige. She deserved this. They deserved this. She had restrained herself so well at the movie premiere when all she wanted to do was find a dark closet to shove Killian in so she could have her way with him. But she was a professional and had an obligation to be there with her fake boyfriend to help her show.

She had no such obligation now.

She pulled herself closer to him, her hands threading through his hair, nipping at his lower lip. The move got her a moan of satisfaction in return. His hand kneaded her hip, his fingers teasing the bare skin under her shirt right at the waistline of her black skirt.

Then he pulled away slightly, his lips red as his forehead rested against hers.

"Hi," he said quietly.

"Hi," she replied with a nervous smile.

He pulled away slightly, and she could finally actually see him. He was wearing a black t-shirt — tight but not too tight — and a pair of jeans that pooled just slightly down by his bare feet. Then she looked back up at him, his dark hair fluffed up a bit with a little product, his face still with that little delicious bit of scruff, and his blue eyes staring at her feet.

"Are those the same boots from the other night?" he asked her without looking up.

"They are," she said. "You said you liked them so I thought I would wear these for you."

"I do like them. A lot."

Then he slid his hand into hers and gently pulled her into his apartment, giving Emma her first real chance to see where he lived. It was definitely a bachelor pad for a man, but a sophisticated man. Lots of grays and dark blues, clean lines, modern furniture. There was a table by the door where his wallet and watch were neatly laid in a box. A television that was big enough for a single man without going overboard. She let go of him to look at a bookshelf with books that seemed like they were actually read and didn't come from some store frequented by set designers. There were quite a few about pirates, including a battered copy of _Treasure Island_.

"So you kind of like pirates, I guess?"

"Kind of," Killian replied.

She pulled her eyes away from the shelves and turned to see him standing in the middle of his living room, hands in his pockets, staring at her with anticipation.

"This is a great place," she said. "I can understand why you and Liam would want to live here."

He smiled, his shoulders relaxing. "And I'm glad you're here."

"Thank you for inviting me," she replied.

"But I do have to ask what's in that bag of yours."

For the first time since Killian pulled her in the door, she remembered the big purse she had dragged along with her that was still on her shoulder. She didn't want to be presumptuous about the night and bring a change of clothes or a toothbrush or something, but she also knew that Killian had promised her dinner. So she walked over to his kitchen counter, set her bag down and started pulling things out. A bottle of a red wine and a bottle of white.

"I wasn't sure what the plan was for dinner so I came prepared with both," she explained.

"Impressive," Killian replied.

Then she pulled out a large Tupperware container. "Mint chocolate chip cookies. These are all for you and you can keep the container."

Killian's eyes got wide as he walked over and slowly took the container out of her hands. Then he pulled the lid off, taking a deep breath to smell the mint.

"These are amazing," he said.

"You haven't even tried one."

Killian's hand dipped in and got one from the top of the small pile of cookies in the container. He took a bite and Emma relished the sense of euphoria that seemed to spread across his face.

"Yep, these are definitely amazing." His eyes fluttered open. "Thank you," he said. "I mean it. I don't remember the last time a woman made something like that for me."

"Then you've been hanging around the wrong women," Emma said.

His face became a little more serious but his eyes still gleamed. "Perhaps I have."

Emma could feel her cheeks get warm and she averted her eyes. Killian may have felt the same nervousness she had, clearing his throat to change the subject in a not so subtle way.

"So, dinner," he said, clearing his throat again. "I have menus."

Emma looked up again to see him tossing the rest of his cookie in his mouth as he stepped around his kitchen island to a drawer in the corner. He pulled out a pile of take-out menus with what looked like an Italian restaurant on top.

"So, uh." He turned and gave Emma a sheepish look. "It's not that I don't want to take you out for a real meal at a fancy restaurant or something, because I really do. It's just—"

"I know."

She did know because she wanted the same thing. Emma wanted to go out in public with Killian. She wanted to eat a romantic candle-lit dinner at a fancy restaurant with him. She wanted to take a walk with him or go to a concert with him. Hell, she wanted to take him to a movie premiere where everyone could see them together.

But she couldn't do that yet. Frankly, she didn't know when she could. Regina had never discussed with Emma and Neal when they could possibly end this whole thing. The thought made her kind of queasy. Because really, when were they supposed to end this? How long was this fake relationship supposed to go on?

Emma couldn't think about that right now though. She was in Killian's apartment and having a quiet dinner with him tonight. She could worry about the rest later.

"Maybe we could do a restaurant another night," Killian said hopefully.

"I would like that."

"Me too." Then he smiled and raised the menus in his hand. "But until then."

He walked over to where she was standing and dropped the large pile on the counter in front of her. Emma was right. There was an Italian place on top. But not for long since Killian swiped that one as soon as the pile hit the counter.

"I like you so no Marco's," he said. "I don't know how an Italian place can mess up pasta, but that place does." Emma smiled at him, and Killian gave her a perplexed look. "What's that about?"

"You like me."

"For now," he said teasingly. "You haven't decided on dinner yet. I'm going to open the red wine if that's OK so maybe find something to match?"

"I can do that."

Of course, she could do that but not until after she was distracted by Killian turning to reach up to get two wine glasses from his cabinet, his shirt pulling tight against the muscles in his back. Emma knew that man had a great body under his shirt — she saw it at Comic Con when his clothes ended up on her hotel room floor. But there was still something about seeing it covered up again that intrigued her.

He started to turn around and Emma quickly looked down at the menus, pretending she had been contemplating what to eat and not how to get Killian's clothes off again.

"What's Herbivore?" she asked him as she held up a menu with a bunch of plants on it.

"What it is is gross. It's a vegan place that Liam keeps insisting I try. It sounds like rabbit food." His face quickly changed to a more serious look. "I mean, we can definitely try it if you're into that sort of thing."

"I'm not," Emma said quickly to save him from his misery.

"Oh, thank god," he replied. "You had me a little worried there, Swan."

And so it went. Emma would pull out a menu and Killian would tell her why that restaurant wouldn't work. Until she pulled out a menu from the middle of the pile.

"Oh, I love this place!" Killian said. "So Liam and I grew up in London, and this place by far has the most authentic British fish and chips in Los Angeles."

"That sounds amazing."

"Really?"

"You're surprised?"

He shrugged. "The women I've dated have all turned it down for being too greasy or too many calories or something."

"I guess I'm not like the other women you've dated."

Killian smirked. "That's for sure." He grabbed his phone off the counter and started dialing the number. "Do you know what you want?"

She was pretty sure she knew what she wanted: him. Preferably naked in bed above her as his scruff brushing against her cheek.

"Just some fish and chips," she said.

He gave her a wicked smile before looking down at his phone to call the restaurant. Perhaps he had caught her turning red at the thought of him naked. It didn't seem like he was going to call her out on it though, and it didn't seem like he disagreed with it either.

xxx xxx xxx

There was fish and chips and another glass of wine and a tub of mint chocolate chip cookies, and there was Killian. They had talked worst case the Jones brothers ever worked on (a teenage pop star who wouldn't listen to them). They talked about the best script Emma had ever read (unfortunately, she got cut in the final round of casting).

And through all of that, Emma hadn't realized how much time had elapsed and how long they had been talking. But she didn't feel the need to check a clock or her phone or find an excuse to get out of there. She liked talking to Killian. It was easy and nice to talk to someone like that.

She remembered talking to him like this that night in her hotel room at Comic Con. He made her feel comfortable and safe, which was something she hadn't really felt since she started lying about Neal.

But Neal wasn't here tonight. Killian was, and he made her happy.

She watched as he grabbed another cookie from the Tupperware container, and watched as his eyes closed slightly after the first bite.

"These are seriously amazing, Emma," he said.

"I'm glad you like them," she replied. "I planted some mint in my backyard and it spread quickly so I had to find some recipes for it."

He took another bite. "You should keep this one," he said with his mouth half full.

Emma laughed and drank the last of her red wine before setting her empty glass on the table. Then she grabbed one of her cookies from the tub — it would be rude to not eat with Killian after all — and was reminded why this was one of her favorite recipes.

"So," she said as she took another bite. "You never told me how you and your brother got into business together."

Killian swallowed his cookie and gave her a sheepish look. "After our dad left us, I had an issue with getting into trouble," he explained. "Liam was always there to get me out of it. So when I was done with school, we left London, came here, and he decided to do that professionally."

"Get people out of trouble?" Emma asked with a smirk.

He shrugged and gave her a little smile. "If you're good at something, you can find a way to make money doing it." He laughed a bit at his memory. "What about you? Why acting?"

Emma gave him a tight smile and looked down at the cookie in her hand. "I didn't like where I was."

"Where were you?" Killian asked.

She looked up to see concern in his eyes, as if he was actually interested in where she had come from and what she had gone through in her life to get to the point in her career that she was at today. She fought hard for where she was today, but it hadn't been easy.

"Foster care," she told him. "I was in foster care. My parents abandoned me on the side of the road and I had to live in foster homes for a long time."

Emma looked up to see Killian staring at her. Usually, when she admitted to a man that this was who she was, that this was her origin story, they would be looking back at her with sympathy. They would feel sorry for her. But he wasn't doing that. He looked fierce and protective and almost mad that she had to go through something like that. There was just something about his look that made her feel seen. It made her story feel real.

"So you became an actress to be someone else?"

She looked at him — really looked at him. She had discussed her life growing up before. She told the story to entertainment reporters and studio executives. It wasn't a real secret. And maybe when she told it, they put the pieces together or understood why that led to her to become an actress. But no one ever said it out loud. No one seemed comfortable enough to say something like that directly to her.

Killian immediately picked up on it though, and he had no problem saying it.

"I got to be someone else," she agreed. "Someone who was different."

"Someone who was wanted."

Her eyes snapped up and looked directly into his. From all her acting classes, she learned that the eyes were an important part of telling a story. They were just as important as the lines in a script at conveying who a person really was. Looking into Killian's eyes at that moment, she could tell exactly who he was. Killian was a man who didn't have his parents to watch out for him. She knew exactly what his eyes said to her because it was what her own eyes said to her when she looked in the mirror.

Killian gave her an awkward smile and put his half eaten cookie on the coffee table. Then he took a deep breath and looked at her again, his gaze going straight to her core.

"Can I ask you a question?" he said.

She could only nod her head in agreement.

"Do you ever feel like you have to act in real life?"

Emma frowned a bit. "Sometimes I do."

Sometimes? Try every day. Every time she walked out of her house and people recognized her. Every time she put on a smile for a man she was dating just because he was someone who made her feel less alone. Every time she walked out of her house knowing the paparazzi was going to be outside taking her picture.

Every time she lied about her fake boyfriend because a studio executive asked her to to save the show they starred in.

"Are you acting with me now?" Killian asked.

His blue eyes stared right at her, making her feel like the only option she had was to tell the truth.

"No, I'm not acting with you. I'm just me."

He leaned in closer. "Good, because I like just you."

His eyes flashed to her lips, and Emma thanked whatever gods she could for that little sign. It was enough for her.

She pushed closer, her mouth tentatively brushing his, and he responded exactly the way she wanted him to. His kiss was soft and tentative, his body still on the other side of some imaginary line on his couch. But it was still as good as she remembered from the times before. Although this time, he was slower. Methodical. The movements he made with his mouth and his hands were deliberate. He seemed to be savoring this moment, and she was more than happy to oblige him. She wanted to remember all of this.

His hand came up and gently brushed her jaw, angling her mouth to be just perfect as he gently nibbled on her lip. She instinctively moaned in pleasure, feeling his fingers scrape against her cheek in response. His kiss became more intense, his hands more frantic as they slipped down her neck before resting on her breast. His lips moved down and nipped at the skin under her ear, lingering as the fingers of his other hand threaded their way through her hair.

"Emma," he moaned quietly into her ear.

The sound of his raspy voice pushed her to another level. Her kisses became more frantic, her hands trying to find a place on his body to grab onto and take hold. Killian was more than happy to oblige as his fingers found the bare skin under her shirt and began to knead into her right above the waistline of her skirt.

Then he proved just how powerful he was, pulling her on to his lap to let her know exactly what kind of effect she had on him. As he pushed her skirt higher up her thighs, she could feel his hard body straining against the zipper of his jeans as he rubbed up against her lace panties. It was definitely turning her on and she let him know as she pushed herself against him, her tongue going deeper into his mouth to spur him on.

Killian's hands left her for just a second as he shifted under her before they returned, his fingers finding their way up her thigh to the panties she made sure matched her bra when she put both of them on before coming tonight. And by the way his hand brushed against them, Emma knew she would be coming soon. Before she backed out of her parking space tonight, she remembered their night together at Comic Con, remembered how he had made her feel. She wanted to feel that way again, and he seemed more than happy to do that for her — and then some.

Killian's fingers dipped inside her panties, making her impulsively moan.

"God, you're so wet for me," he murmured against her skin.

Emma had seen Killian apprehensive and quiet, but when he wanted her, he really wanted her. His voice became husky, his words wanting.

"Can I touch you all night?" he whispered.

"Yes," she replied.

Killian responded swiftly, his hand quickly dipping into the black lace and finding the perfect spot for his thumb to circle before she could even prepare for his fingers on her. Her groan would've been louder if he hadn't swallowed it with his mouth on hers, coaxing her entire body to press against his. Emma couldn't see straight, couldn't find her voice. She could only push herself harder into his hand as he continued to circle her.

"Do you want to come?"

She couldn't answer, her breathing labored as she moved closer, forcing her breasts against his shirt.

"Emma, do you want to come?" he asked her.

"Yes," she responded desperately. "Fuck, yes."

His hands stilled and he pulled his fingers away from the lace under her skirt. He pulled away and she could feel her body cry immediately, wanting more of him closer to her. She opened his eyes and wordlessly pleaded for him to keep going. But the blue that she loved to see in his eyes was just a sliver, his pupils wide with desire. His breathing was just as labored as hers. He wasn't done with her yet.

"Let me take you to bed."

She stood up and pulled her skirt back over her hips. Looking down on Killian now, she saw him staring up at her in awe in a way she had always wished a man would look at her. Then he got up, his hardness visibly straining against his pants, his hand sliding under the skirt she had just fixed as he gave her another deep kiss.

"I don't want to sound presumptuous, but I did bring something with me for you."

She could feel the smile as his lips pressed against hers again. "Don't worry, Swan. A Boy Scout is always prepared."

He reached for her hand and started to pull her towards his bedroom.

"Were you ever really a Boy Scout?" she teased.

He rolled his eyes at her. "No, Swan. Stop over thinking the details."

"I'm an actress," she replied. "I'm trying to build the back story for your character."

Killian pulled her into the room, shutting the door and pushing her up against it. He started trailing kisses from her earlobe down to her neck, making her toes curl in her high boots.

"My back story?" He dropped small kisses along her collarbone. "There's never been any woman in my life that I've wanted as much as I want you right now. Is that a good back story?"

She could only moan in approval, which he took as a sign to pull her further into his bedroom, and she was more than happy to follow. It was exactly what she expected from him. Gray walls, white pillows, and a gray and white comforter. Sleek modern furniture and a huge king-sized bed in the middle of the room.

Killian turned her and slowly walked her backwards towards his bed, his mouth continuing to ravish every piece of bare skin he could find as his hands fumbled with her shirt before finally pulling it over her head. His fingers dipped into the black lace, a groan escaping him before he leaned over, his lips kissing the crest of her breast. She arched towards his mouth, encouraging him to keep going.

But for as much skin as she had exposed, he was still wearing his t-shirt and jeans and she was not going to allow that to continue.

"This is in my way," she told him as she grabbed the hem of his shirt and started to pull it up.

He quickly pulled away and tugged the shirt over his head in one swift move. Then his hands were on her again, slowly walking her backwards until her legs hit the edge of his mattress. Killian wrapped his arm around her waist and gently laid her down on the bed, the weight of his body pressing her down into the soft comforter. His hands started to fumble underneath her, his movements becoming more frantic.

"How the hell am I supposed to get this off of you?" he mumbled.

"The zipper is on the side," she whispered.

Killian gave her a frustrated moan. "You take care of that and I'll take care of something else," he said against her skin.

He stood up, his body looming over her in a way that made her wish he would be quick about it. And he was. By the time she finally shimmied out of her skirt and moved higher on his bed, he was already in front of her, unzipping his pants. She watched with anticipation as he kicked off his jeans and boxers, his body finally free of the confines that had been holding him back. She watched as he rolled on the condom and she reached for the zipper on one of her boots.

"Don't."

Her hand stilled as he stared down at her with lust in his eyes. He moved above her, his hands sliding up the leather boots to her bare thighs.

"Don't take those boots off."

His fingers found the waistband of her panties and he slowly pulled them off, taking care to make sure the delicate lace didn't snag on the boots.

"So you like the boots?"

His eyes locked on to hers and he slowly climbed up her body, peppering kisses on the inside of her thigh as his scruff tickled her sensitive skin.

"I like the boots."

His voice was husky and raw, his eyes dark and burning as he moved up her body, lips on her hip and her belly, the nipple of her breast as he palmed the other one. Then his mouth was on hers again, the weight of his body fully on her.

His hand roamed back down to her leg, opening her up to him as he finally slid inside. Her back arched as she sucked in a deep breath, feeling him slowly move against her. This wasn't like their night together in the hotel room at Comic Con. This was different. This was passion and emotion and all those extra things she felt when it was about more than just sex.

She knew Killian could feel it too. His hand let go of her leg, bracing himself above her and he slid into her again and again, his head ducking into the curve of her neck, his breathing in her ear. She wrapped her leather boots around his waist, getting a deep moan against her skin in response.

"I don't think I can last much longer," he confessed.

Her fingers sunk into his hair, her other hand scratching gently up his back. "Then come for me, Killian."

His reaction was immediate, his movements erratic, his groans buzzing against her chest. Emma was close, she was so close, her nails digging into his hard bicep, holding him above her as he pushed into her again and again, harder and harder. He had her right on the edge, right there, until she finally cried out, losing herself in a moment of sheer pleasure. Her boots tightened around his waist as he slammed into her one more time, a prolonged groan escaping his lips before he finally stilled above her.

She could feel his heavy breathing against her, his chest brushing her sensitive breasts each time he tried to regain his composure. It probably didn't help that she was breathing just as hard to calm the buzz in every muscle of her body.

Killian pulled himself off of her, collapsing on the bed. She could hear him laugh slightly from his spot next to her.

"You can wear those boots to my place anytime you want."

She rolled over onto her side, her fingers tracing the dark hair on his chest. "Anytime?"

He turned his head, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Anytime."

"What if I come without the boots on?"

Killian gave her a teasing smile. "You can come without the boots on if you want."

"But can you come without the boots on?"

He laughed and rolled towards her. "Oh, I'm pretty sure I can, Swan. But I'd be more than happy to prove it to you if you'd like that."

"I'd like that very much," she said.

Emma finally fell asleep in Killian's arms that night, her body exhausted and her boots on the floor.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another week, another reason for the M rating. If you like smut, enjoy! If you don’t, you can skip it.

The warmth of the sun filtering through his bedroom window was nothing compared to the warmth of the woman next to Killian. Although to be fair, she was actually kind of on him, her silky blonde hair cascading over his chest where she continued to sleep.

Killian could get used to this. He worked with celebrities all the time and didn't really get star struck. But Emma Swan — the gorgeous Emma Swan from television — asleep in his bed made him a little star struck. He'd had women stay in his apartment before, especially Milah until she had decided she wanted to try and make her marriage work with her estranged husband. Emma was different though. There was no way to describe the feelings he had when he woke to find Emma was still here with him.

He was just happy and content and comfortable. Also, exhausted. To be fair, he'd had a gorgeous woman in his bed all night so that should be expected. No man could've resisted doing the things he did last night if they had Emma in their bed.

Killian's fingers threaded through her hair, letting it slip through and fall back on her bare shoulders. He didn't mean to wake her, his moves had just been impulsive, but she began to stir by his side. Emma inhaled deeply and rolled off him slightly, immediately making him miss her presence on his body.

Then she turned to him and gave him a sheepish smile. "Morning," she said in a raspy voice.

"Good morning, love," he said quietly. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

She closed her eyes and snuggled back into his side. "It's OK. I should probably get going soon anyway. What time is it?"

Killian grabbed his cell phone from his nightstand. In addition to the time, the screen was filled with missed text messages from Liam.

_Breakfast, brother?_

_Are you up? I'm hungry. Let's eat._

_Wherefore art thou, brother?_

Killian smirked. Where was he? In bed with Emma Swan.

"It's 9:15," he told her.

"That's not so bad."

Unlocking his phone, he typed out a quick response to Liam.

_Not hungry, go without me._

He dropped it back down on the nightstand and turned his attention to Emma.

"Don't worry about the time," he said reassuringly. "You can stay here as long as you like."

"At some point you'd get sick of me."

He gave her a small laugh. "I don't think that's possible."

Killian turned to gently kiss her forehead and was rewarded with a soft purr from Emma. He definitely wouldn't get sick of her anytime soon. Hell, if he had his choice, they would just stay here all morning naked in bed. But he'd also worked up an appetite after their activities the night before.

"So what are your plans for the morning?" he asked her.

"I have to meet my trainer at the gym around noon, but I could stay here in bed with you until then," she teased.

"While I would love that, I'm also starving. I had a bit of a workout last night."

She propped her chin on his chest and smiled at him. "I would say I'm sorry about that, but I'm totally not sorry at all."

He leaned up and kissed her. He was gentle at first but then she pushed back, her lips determined as she forced his head back down on the pillow. Breakfast could wait apparently.

But the knocking on his front door made her pull back slightly in shock.

"Are you expecting someone?" she asked.

There was a knock again and this time, Killian knew exactly who it was.

"Oh, shit." He jumped out of bed and fumbled with his discarded jeans from the bedroom floor.

"Who is it?" Emma asked.

"Shhh!" He turned to see her staring at him with wide eyes. "It's Liam," he said in a hurried whisper. "Stay here, be quiet, and I'll get rid of him."

He hurriedly stuffed his naked body into the jeans, closing the door to his bedroom behind him as he carefully zipped his pants up and padded towards the front door.

"He's alive!" his brother announced when Killian opened the door. "Let's go."

Killian's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean 'let's go'?"

"I mean, you're here and I don't know why you told me you're not hungry because you love breakfast on Sundays, so let's go."

"I'm really not hungry, and I have other things to do this morning."

Liam gave him a skeptical look. "Not hungry and other things to do? Really?"

"Really," Killian said firmly.

Liam's eyes looked over Killian's shoulder and started darting around his apartment.

_Please don't see Emma. Please don't see Emma._

"That's not your purse, is it?"

Killian's head snapped around to see Emma's large brown purse still sitting on his kitchen counter. Dammit. He knew what was about to happen.

"Sooooo, who's the girl, Killian?" He winced and turned back to Liam, who looked like a cat who had caught a canary. "Seriously, who is she? Where did you meet her? When can I meet her?"

Killian took a deep breath and stared at his brother. "I met her at Comic Con when you locked me out of our room. Maybe you can meet her when we go on a double date with your girlfriend."

The smile on Liam's face disappeared. Yep, Killian was definitely not the only one with a secret. If Liam wouldn't be forthcoming with his romantic entanglement, then neither would he.

Liam turned his head slightly and took a deep breath, staring down the hall towards his apartment and exposing a red mark on the side of his neck.

"Is that a hickey?"

Liam's head snapped back toward Killian, his hand instinctively reaching for the spot. "No," he said defiantly. But then he rubbed the spot and his hand slipped back down to his side. "Maybe," he mumbled.

Killian smiled back. His brother's slip up gave him a nice little advantage in this conversation now. "Perhaps we can discuss these developments later?"

Liam rolled his eyes. "Fine, but you're not getting out of this."

"Neither are you, brother," he replied.

"And I'm not bringing a bagel back for you."

"I understand," Killian said. "See you later?"

Liam nodded. "Yeah, we have to go over our plans for the Neal/Emma project for this week anyway."

He took a deep breath and ran his hand over his face. "Right," he huffed. "Maybe 6-ish then?"

"Sounds good," his brother replied. "You're paying for take out though since you're skipping breakfast with me for a woman."

Killian could only laugh, thinking about the woman on the other side of his bedroom door. "I think that's a very fair trade."

Liam gave him a grudging "harrumph" before heading down on the elevator at the end of the hall.

As soon as his brother was obviously gone, Killian leaned back against the door. That was close, maybe too close. But for once, he was thankful that his brother insisted on not using the key to his apartment. He had no idea how he would've explained Emma being at his place fully clothed, much less naked in his bed.

Of course, there was also the harsh reminder of their Neal/Emma project. He hated the sneaking around, but he was sneaking around because he was sleeping with a client who was "dating" someone else. This was a mess and trying to explain it all would be impossible. He would need to deal with this at some point, but who the hell knew when that would be? In the meantime, he had Emma with him. The whole project he and his brother were working on was something they could handle later. But he had things he needed to do now.

And by things, he meant Emma Swan. He needed to do Emma Swan now.

Killian walked back to his room and slowly opened the door, expecting to see her in the bed where he left her.

"Emma?"

His bed was empty. Killian pushed the door open farther and started looking around the room, his attention pulled to some rustling in his walk-in closet.

"Emma?"

"Is Liam gone?" he heard a voice say quietly.

Killian couldn't help but chuckle. "Yes, love," he said teasingly. "Now what are you searching for in my…."

His voice trailed off as Emma stepped out of the closet. She had found his pirate coat and put it on. It was longer on her than it was on him, the shoulder slightly off, which was still a bit hidden by her long blonde tresses cascading around the structured collar. There was a little too much black leather pooling around her wrists and she had wrapped her arms around herself to keep it closed.

His brain was fried, his mouth gaping open. He felt helpless trying to find the words he wanted to. Hell, he couldn't find any words at the moment. But his brain finally snapped back into place so he could ask a coherent question.

"Are you wearing anything under that?"

Oh yeah, it was a coherent question but a dumb one. And judging by the teasing smile Emma gave him as she walked closer, the collar of the jacket starting to fall open with each step, she didn't need to tell him the answer. His mind was working well enough to put the pieces together.

Emma stood up on her toes and kissed him gently as his arms slid under the leather to find her soft skin waiting for his touch. She moaned with the most sensual sound he had ever heard from a woman, her body writhing under his fingers. He was hard and he cursed himself for grabbing those tight and very constricting jeans off the floor.

Emma put more pressure on his lips as she leaned into him, his back hitting the wall behind him. She teased him, coaxed him, made him lean forward to meet her mouth. He closed his eyes to take in the sensation of Emma's body pushing against him.

Then she abruptly stepped away. It took him a second to catch on to what had happened, his lips lingering in midair with no one to kiss him back. One minute she was there and the next she wasn't.

He felt hands working on the zipper of his jeans and his hard on pulled free from its confines.

"Oh, fuck," he moaned slowly.

Killian's head fell back against the wall as Emma's tongue licked his length before her warm mouth surrounded him. He felt light headed and dizzy, and he started reaching out to find something to lean on. His hands scraped across the jacket, and he squeezed Emma's leather-clad shoulders to keep himself upright as she took him in.

He was trying hard to calm his breath, to get some sort of control over his body, but the sensation of Emma on her knees in front of him was proving to be too much. He felt like a stupid teenage boy who was about to lose it just at the imagined thought of a woman's breasts.

"Emma," he pleaded, hoping she would show him some compassion, give him a few seconds to compose himself.

Instead, she picked up the pace, her tongue circling him, her fingers deftly teasing his body. She had no sympathy for him. She was a woman determined to make him shatter, lose all sense of control, and she didn't seem to care that it was going to be over quick and hard for him. Killian would have to prove himself as a long-lasting lover later, but now was not that time. All he could do was try to whisper her name from his lips.

"Emma." He looked down to find her staring up at him with wide green eyes. "Love, I'm almost there."

He was being a gentleman, giving her an out if she wanted it, letting her choose the boundaries. But with her eyes still on him, Emma wordlessly told him what she wanted. She slowly pulled him in one more time, strong and hard and wet. It was too much. She was too much. This woman was doing everything she could to satisfy him, and he was going to let her.

As his head fell back against the wall behind him, he couldn't stop the deep moan that escaped him as she sent him over the edge.

xxx xxx xxx

Killian watched Emma's chest rise and fall as she laid on her back in his bed. Her bare breasts were framed by his wide open black leather jacket. Her cheeks were flushed, her blonde hair fanned out on the pillow, her lips deliciously parted with exhaustion. Her grip on his forearm had started to weaken as he gently caressed her skin, still sensitive after she had shattered beneath his fingers.

He prided himself on being a gentleman, and the pleasure that Emma had given him needed to be paid back. By the way she reacted — her moans, her touch, her red lips whispering his name — he was pretty sure she was as satisfied as he had been by her.

Her grip loosened, giving him a sign that she had fully ridden out the waves of desire he had sent coursing through her body. She exhaled another long contented breath.

"That was …"

"A one-time thing."

He started to pull his hand away only to find Emma's fingers tighten on his arm again. "Don't you dare tease me like that, Killian Jones."

He smiled and, sliding his hand around her waist, leaned over to kiss her. "Are you saying you would like me to do that to you again some time?"

She put her fingers in the waistband of his unbuttoned jeans and pulled him down to kiss him harder. It was pretty obvious her answer was "yes," or at least that would be her answer if she would stop kissing him.

But Killian had to stop her. His body could only perform so well without any food. He pulled away slowly, his lips wanting Emma, but his stomach wanting food. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at the gorgeous woman below him.

"Do you have some time for breakfast before you go?"

"Maybe, but we can't go out, can we?"

She sounded a bit disappointed at the idea of not being able to have breakfast with Killian since they couldn't head out in public together.

"No, we can't leave," he said. "You would get in trouble with Regina, and I would get in trouble with Liam."

"So no breakfast?"

Killian smiled down at her. "I didn't say that."

He lowered down and kissed her lips, then trailed a few more down her neck. He started thinking he could rally and perhaps give Emma some more of his undivided attention. But then his stomach gave a loud rumble, breaking the mood and causing her to laugh. He growled and pushed himself off the bed, holding out a hand for Emma so he could pull her up and into his arms.

"Why don't you get dressed and I'll meet you in the kitchen," he said.

He started to walk away but Emma's hand wouldn't let go of him. "What's in the kitchen?"

"Breakfast," he replied with a smile.

"Really?"

Killian rolled his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "You're the second person to ask me that already today and it's only…" He looked around and realized his phone was still on the nightstand. "Bloody hell, it's just early. Get ready and I'll see you in the kitchen."

She responded with an "Aye, aye, captain," and her hand went up in a mock salute, opening his leather coat up to expose her naked body underneath.

Killian took a deep breath to steady himself and headed out of the bedroom with his head down. Stupid body that had been sucked dry by Emma Swan and wouldn't do anything else until he gave it some sort of caloric intake.

He started opening cabinet doors until he found what he was looking for: a plastic container of pancake mix. It was a genius thing to have stocked in his cupboard. He just needed to add some water and shake the thing up and viola! He looked like a cooking genius. Normally, he would make these on a random weekend when he and Liam would get up early to watch a soccer match or go for a run. But this morning was different. This morning, he was making breakfast for Emma.

The griddle was cooking up the first batch when he heard his bedroom door open.

"It smells like pancakes," he heard Emma say.

"That's because it is pancakes. I hope you like them." He turned to see Emma walking towards him with his leather coat wrapped around her, covering up what was laid bare for him only a few minutes earlier. "I thought you were going to get dressed."

She looked down at her current attire — as if she had no clue what she was wearing — then back up at him. "You don't like this?"

"Oh, I like it very much, but it's making me think thoughts I can't back up without eating something."

She smiled and sat down at the counter. "I'll give you your leather coat back soon," she said. "Besides, I think it looks good on me."

Killian turned back to the griddle and slid the first few pancakes on to a plate. "It looks better off of you if I'm being quite honest."

He set the plate of pancakes down in front of her and looked up to see her giving him a warm smile. Something tightened in his chest. That wasn't just some fake actress smile she was flashing him. It was real and truthful, and that made it feel so much more important to him.

Killian opened up a drawer and pulled out a fork. She took it from her hand and was about to start cutting into her stack of pancakes.

"Hold on! I forgot something." He headed to the cupboard and grabbed a glass container that he set down beside her. "Real maple syrup," he said. "Not that high fructose crap."

"Wow, you really go all out."

"I try," he said with a shrug.

He turned back to the griddle and put some more butter on it when he heard Emma moan in approval after taking her first bite. He couldn't help but smile to himself as he poured more batter.

"These are so delicious," she said. "Much better than the stale bagels Neal brings when he spends the night."

Killian's hand stilled, his happy smile turning into a frown. Last night with Emma was amazing. This morning had been more of the same. But he had been ignoring something, and perhaps she had been as well.

They couldn't be seen as a real couple just yet because a real couple doesn't work together to promote a fake relationship. Killian knew he was acting jealous and blowing all of this out of proportion. After all, who ravished him last night? Who woke up in his arms this morning?

And yet, they were sneaking around. Killian wasn't exactly sure how to define his relationship with Emma just yet, but he knew there was something special there. A connection, a mutual admiration, a closeness that was just different. All of these things were things he couldn't tell Liam. He couldn't ask Liam what his opinion was or explain the circumstances. He couldn't take Emma out to a bar with his brother and Robin so he could show off his new girlfriend. Could he even call her that? What do you call a woman you're attracted to when all the two of you have done is eat take-out before screwing each other senseless?

Killian looked back at the pancakes, making sure they weren't burned before putting them on his plate. Then he grabbed a fork and sat down on a stool at his counter next to Emma.

"So." His voice cracked and he had to clear his throat as he started cutting his food. "Neal doesn't take care of you like I do?"

He was fishing for information or a compliment or something, and he knew it. But it was so obvious, he hoped Emma would take the bait.

"He doesn't take care of me like this," she said quietly.

Killian gave her a small smile, trying to keep his gloating in check. He wasn't sure if she was being honest or just trying to appease his ego, but he was going to take what he could get.

"Perhaps I need to teach Neal how to make pancakes," he replied. "Or at least suggest a better bagel place."

He chuckled slightly, trying to lighten the mood and hide his jealousy that he knew was unwarranted. When he looked up at her, she was staring intently at him with her green eyes.

"When I said Neal doesn't take care of me like this, I wasn't talking about breakfast."

Her words went straight to Killian's chest. Part of her job description as an actress was to act, but there was no acting from her now. She was being honest and truthful, and there was something about it that made Killian feel a way he hadn't in a long time.

He couldn't help but lean over to gently kiss her. It wasn't like their other kisses, it wasn't hot and bothered and wanting. This was soft and simple and so much more than physical contact with her. His hand reached up and threaded through her hair, its silky strands slipping through his fingers. She gave him a soft moan and slightly nibbled at his lower lip. He didn't need anything else and didn't want to escalate it to anything more. He just wanted to be in this moment with her.

Killian pulled away slightly, his forehead touching hers as he ran his tongue across his lower lip. "You taste like maple syrup," he murmured.

"And it's the good kind too. Not that high fructose crap."

He laughed at her joke and moved away to look at her, the intensity in her eyes gone and replaced with a playfulness that he so enjoyed seeing.

Killian turned back and cut off another bite. "There's a line in there about you being extra sweet. I just can't get to it."

"And you're the one who brags about being the best writer in the Jones brothers' organization."

He took his last bite, then picked up both of their plates and carried them to the sink with a smile on his face.

"Speaking of which, you can't use your purse ever again," he told her.

Emma gave him a perplexed look and pulled his coat tighter around her. "Ever again?" she asked incredulously.

"Well, at least until the fake relationship act is done," he said, making sure not to mention her co-worker's name.

"And why is this exactly?"

"Liam saw your purse on the counter when he knocked on my door earlier."

"And Liam is an expert on purses?" she asked skeptically.

Killian laughed. "No, Liam is an expert on details. That's why he's better at being the one in charge of everything than I am."

He leaned over and grabbed Emma's hand from across the counter. Her smile returned to her face and her shoulders relaxed.

"So can I use it when the whole Neal thing is over?"

"Yes." He rubbed his thumb in little circles on the back of her hand as a nagging question pushed its way into the front of his mind. "Just out of curiosity, do you know when this whole Neal thing is going to be over?"

Emma shrugged. "I don't think Regina has thought of an end date yet."

"Right," he said quietly.

"Killian?" He looked up to see Emma staring at him. "I'll see what I can find out."

"No rush," he said. "I would just like to know."

"Me too," she told him. "I'm tired of living like this."

He pulled her hand up and gave it a gentle kiss. It was just a little gesture, but he hoped it conveyed to her what he really wanted to say. What was going on with the two of them. Whatever label fit this thing between them, it wasn't little. Not by a long shot.

She took her hand from his, then gave him a smile and headed back into his bedroom to get dressed.

"A day later and you still look amazing," he said as she walked out in her clothes from yesterday and her knee-high boots.

"And you need to get a shirt on." She picked up her purse from the counter and flung it over her shoulder. "I'm leaving the rest of the wine here for next time."

"Next time? I don't remember asking you to come back."

She gave him an incredulous look and put her hand on her hip. "You're telling me that after what you did to me, you don't want to do that again?"

He took two long strides, wrapped his arm around Emma's waist and pulled her in for a quick but passionate kiss.

"You make a good point," he murmured.

Her hands slid up his chest, her fingers weaving through his dusting of dark hair. "So there's a next time?" she asked.

"Of course."

He kissed her forehead and reached for her hand to walk her out. Opening the door, he peeked his head out to make sure Liam wasn't in the hallway.

"Coast is clear, love," he whispered.

He opened the door a little wider to usher her out and she brushed her lips against his cheek before making a quick wordless escape. He watched as she sneaked past Liam's door before turning the corner by the elevators and disappearing.

Killian quietly closed the door behind him to finally take stock of his apartment. Their wine glasses were still on the coffee table next to a half-empty container of mint chocolate chip cookies. Liam was thankfully not observant enough to notice those. He grabbed all three and headed to the kitchen. He would hide the cookies now and do the dishes later.

Besides, he really needed a shower after the sweat he worked up from an intoxicating night — and morning — with Emma Swan.

She left his leather pirate jacket neatly lying on the bed for him, and as he put it on the hanger in his closet, he noticed it smelled like vanilla, just like her.


	12. Chapter 12

Emma's week was crazy, which was actually a good thing. It didn't give her enough free time to let her miss Killian or think of him and the way his mouth felt on her body.

Instead, she focused on other things like the late-night shoots she and Neal had for the show. The particular episode they were filming took place outside at night so there were several days when she showed up on the set late in the afternoon, headed out for filming until five in the morning, and then was driven home by a car service so she could sleep in the back seat.

On Thursday, the media showed up to set. Elsa was barely awake as the reporter from Entertainment Tonight stood by with a photographer shooting video of the show's production. Elsa also seemed to be running on empty, trying to hide a yawn as she stood in the back. But by that late in the shoot, Emma and Neal had adjusted to the strange schedule and had no problem keeping up.

It was good that they were at least sharp enough to answer the reporter's questions as a couple, holding hands for the 10-minute interview and making sure their answers were vague without being too vague.

"How has Emma helped you through this difficult time?" the reporter asked.

Neal turned and smiled at her. "Just seeing her on set is enough for me."

"Yeah, it's good to be back on set together," she added.

That was actually true. After all the drama, Emma did actually enjoy working with Neal on the show. It was away from all the craziness and drama in her real life — or whatever "real life" meant to her now. It was away from that stupid viral tape.

It was away from Killian.

That part sucked, but it wasn't a bad thing for the ruse they were perpetuating. If Killian was around, Emma was sure she would slip up or she would look differently at him than before. She was sure someone would notice. She needed to prepare herself to see him so she could put on her acting face and hide the truth from everyone.

Emma and Neal were finishing up their last scene on Friday morning when a production assistant knocked on her trailer door and said Regina wanted to see them. Emma put her street clothes back on, making sure she carefully hung up her work clothes for the costume department. Then she started her walk over to the network's production offices.

"Hey, Emma! Wait up."

She stopped at the end of trailer row and waited for Neal to catch up. He also had changed into his usual jeans and t-shirt. His hair was still sticking up from the product the make-up department put in it hours earlier. He carried a backpack with him for his script notes and whatever book he was reading at the moment. Usually, it was a paperback crime thriller with stories like the ones on their show.

"You headed to see Regina too?" he asked as his pace began to match hers.

"Yeah. Do you know what's up?"

Neal shrugged and gave her an awkward smile before wordlessly grabbing her hand and giving it a small squeeze. Emma understood the sentiment. This is what a normal couple would do and this was them acting like a normal couple.

They both stayed quiet as they walked through the front doors of the building. The security guard ushered them through the lobby and scanned his key card to call the elevator for them. A few people got off and smiled at them before they got on. They were both well aware that when they were in public, people always saw them. They had to act the part.

Neal let go of her hand as soon as the elevator doors closed and they were alone.

"Sorry about that." He stuffed his hand in his pocket. "People were watching. I just thought it was a good way to sell it."

"I know."

And really, Emma did know. She wasn't going to hold it against Neal for grabbing her hand. That's what boyfriends do. She just wished it was someone else that she was holding hands with in public.

"So you have no idea what's going on either?" Emma asked.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened onto Regina's floor.

"No idea."

Emma could feel Neal's hand gently brush her back as he ushered her out of the elevator. Elsa was standing right there.

"No idea about what?" she asked.

"Oh, uh." Emma turned to look at Neal for some guidance, but he seemed a little lost at the moment. "We were just talking about going somewhere for dinner next week since the shooting schedule won't be as brutal. But like usual, we have no clue where to go."

Elsa gave her a big smile. "Oh, don't worry! We have plans for you guys."

Well, that didn't sound good.

"Who's 'we' and what plans?" Neal asked.

"C'mon!" Elsa said in a chipper tone.

They followed behind her as they headed towards Regina's office. Zelena was on the phone, typing away a message with her bright green nails. She waved them in to Regina's office without a word.

"There you two are!" Regina exclaimed as they walked in. "The production staff said you got a bit tied up on set."

"It's been a long shoot this week," Neal said.

"Well, come on it. You remember the Jones brothers."

Another surprise apparently. Emma paused before taking a breath and walking over to the Joneses.

"Hi, Liam."

The oldest Jones leaned in for a friendly peck on her cheek. "Good to see you again," he said warmly.

"Killian."

He gave her an awkward smile and welcomed her in the same way. Only this light kiss was so much more than Liam's. It was warm and soft and she had to forcibly make sure she didn't linger too long. Same length as Liam. Don't want anyone getting any ideas.

"Please sit."

Regina motioned to the sofa and chairs in her office where all this drama had started a few weeks ago. Everyone took their places as they had last time even if this was different. So much had transpired since that first meeting about Regina's crazy idea.

Neal sat down on the sofa next to Emma and held her hand. She knew from her years of working as an actor that how you used your body was just as important as the words that came out of your mouth. Holding hands was just a simple way to sell this story. She glanced at Killian, who had taken a seat opposite them. His eyes fell on Emma and Neal's intertwined hands, and she saw his jaw flex tightly before he quickly looked away. This sucked for both of them.

"So I just wanted to get everyone together to see where we're at right now," Regina explained as she took her place in the circle. "Elsa, do you want to start?"

"Sure!"

Elsa gave the couple — or rather, "the couple" — a smile and pulled out some paperwork from a folder in front of her. She handed a copy around to everyone, and Emma took a glance at the page in front of her. Right at the top in bold letters, it said "Metrics data." She internally groaned. Emma knew this was the deal, knew that this was the reason they were doing this whole thing in the first place. But seeing her fake relationship outlined in metrics data just seemed so clinical and boring. Kind of like the relationship itself. Clinical and boring. Sure, Neal was a friend and she did have a nice time talking to him more often off the set. But her relationship with him was nothing like the fire between her and Killian.

Emma loved her friend but was having a hard time listening to Elsa go on about demographic breakdowns of Twitter users using the #Nemma hashtag.  _Wait, what?_

"Did you say 'Nemma'?" she asked Elsa.

Elsa gave her a huge smile. "Yep! Fans came up with a couple name for you!"

Emma heard Neal groan from his spot next to her. She knew exactly how he felt.

"So we're just a new version of Bennifer or something?" he asked bitterly.

"If I may jump in," Liam said politely. "We find that hashtags help push the narrative better and get people talking about you more."

"And that's a good thing?" Neal asked.

"It is," Elsa said. "It means people are talking about you as a couple, and in a good way. They see you as aspirational and hopeful."

"And from a crisis management perspective, it helps with our job to rehab your image, Neal," Liam said. "Having a hashtag makes fans want to invest in your happiness both as someone who is on the road to recovery and as someone whose work they enjoy. They want you to be happy and that's a good thing for everyone, right?"

Emma looked over at Killian who was still staring at the metrics data page. He looked uncomfortable. Emma understood exactly how that felt.

She turned to Liam and gave him a tight smile. "Right, it's a good thing," she tried to say cheerfully.

"Great," Liam said. "So Killian and I came up with a plan over the weekend with some other events and ideas we have for the next few weeks. You only have to do as much as you feel comfortable with, but we think we've got a good strategy leading up to the season premiere."

Neal squeezed Emma's hand. She knew exactly why too, because she felt the same way.

"Season premiere?" she asked. "But that's a month from now."

"It sounds far away, but it's really not," Liam explained. "And we can totally adjust the schedule as we get closer to see what does and doesn't work. We're just trying to take advantage of some opportunities to boost the ratings and get your publicity headed in the right direction."

"You've been doing a great job so far," Elsa said.

Emma knew she could be giving something away by her reaction, but she looked around the room anyway to see how this was all playing out. The only two people who seemed enthused about this plan was Liam and Elsa. Killian looked dour, Neal was more stoic, and while Regina was smiling, Emma could tell it wasn't a real smile.

But they were in this together. Some of them anyway. As Regina had predicted, no one had found out about the fakeness of Neal and Emma's relationship because they hadn't told anyone. Well, except for Killian. But this fake secret was confined to Regina's office right now. It was being sold and it was being sold well. Aside from four people, who were all in this room together, everyone thought it was real.

"OK," Emma said, trying to get her thoughts back on track. "So what's this great plan?"

Liam smiled at her. "I'm glad you asked."

There was a calendar and paperwork. Detailed outlines of events. Public events. Paparazzi schedules. A private dinner on Tuesday.

"Wait, what do you mean by private dinner?" Neal asked. "We just go out to eat together somewhere?"

"Yes, but we're going to make sure they put you right by the window so the paps can get some photos," Liam explained. "And because it's part of your image makeover, you can charge all of it to the studio."

He gave them a big smile, but his joke landed with a thud. He didn't seem to notice though and pressed on with more invitations and ideas. Killian would only occasionally interject with things to consider or little pieces to remember. But other than that, it was Liam's show. Emma understood now why Killian was the writer who left the presenting to his brother.

After almost an hour of listening to details about movie premieres and dinners and Hollywood parties, the Joneses finally started to pack up their things. Liam reminded them that the paparazzi would be outside of Emma's house tomorrow morning as usual. A car service would pick them up from the set on Tuesday to take them to the restaurant for dinner and then take them back to Emma's place for the night. There was a premiere next Friday night. Plans after that would be more adjustable depending on what worked best.

But what worked best was Emma and Killian. They had been texting since Emma left Killian's apartment on Sunday morning, but with her late-night shoots, it hadn't been easy. Still, it was nice to know that Killian was still just a text message away and was understanding of the challenges of her job.

Emma was thankful the meeting was at least over until Regina called her back.

"Neal? Emma? Could you stay for a bit?"

Emma turned to look at Killian, who gave her a small awkward smile before leaving with his brother and Elsa. She waited for the door to shut behind them and once they were out of earshot, she finally sat back down on Regina's sofa. This time, she and Neal took separate ends instead of sitting next to each other.

Regina sat down next to them and gave them a sympathetic look. "So I saw the way you two reacted when they said their plan went all the way to the season premiere."

"It wasn't that obvious, was it?" Neal asked.

"Not to someone who didn't know you had a secret," she said. "Now I know this is longer than you may have expected this to go, and I get that. But this relationship of yours has done an amazing job at giving your show a positive boost. Fans love this! And we think it'll lead to a bump in ratings for your return."

"Who's 'we' exactly?" Emma said.

"The network executives," she explained. "But again, the three of us are the only ones who know this is fake."

Neal ran his hands over his face in frustration. "I just didn't expect it to be this long."

"Yeah, I thought it would just be a few weeks or something, Regina."

The network executive nodded. "I know, but we don't have much longer. And remember, Neal, we're doing this to clean up your image."

"Right," Neal muttered. "Are we done then?"

Regina silently nodded, giving the two of them the ability to finally leave the office. Emma walked out first with Neal behind her. Zelena already seemed to be gone for the night so there was no need to hold hands as they silently walked back to the elevator. They waited until they got in and the doors closed before Neal even attempted to say anything.

"I'm really sorry, Emma."

She waved her hand in his direction. "Just stop. We both agreed to this, and we both expected it to be shorter. But we're doing this for the show."

"Right, the show," he replied. "So I'll be at your place at the same time as usual tonight?"

"Sounds good."

He smiled. "And I promise to bring bagels."

She gave him a smile as the elevator doors opened, and he reached for her hand as they walked out.

Emma knew that Neal was being nice by bringing over breakfast for them every time he stayed. And sure, she was grateful for that. It was a nice gesture considering he was staying at her place every Friday night as part of their cover. The least he could do was bring some food. But the bagels were always a bit hard by the next morning.

It was definitely not like her breakfast with Killian at his place. Real breakfast with real maple syrup and the kind of wake-up that a girl would never complain about. She would get that again this weekend. Those plans had already been put into place, and she couldn't wait to see Killian alone in his apartment again tomorrow night.

But that was tomorrow night, and until then, she had to put on a brave face and walk to her car while holding Neal's hand. This was for the crew and all the people who would still have their jobs because the show wouldn't get canceled. This was to help a friend get his reputation back after his rough night at Comic Con went viral. She was doing all of this to help other people she cared about.

Helping herself to the man she really wanted would just have to come in second place for a little longer.

xxx xxx xxx

Killian checked everything in the kitchen again, making sure it was all ready to go. Emma would be over in a few minutes for dinner and since they still couldn't go out in public, he wanted to make sure it was the best romantic dinner he could whip up at home.

Because it would be awhile before they could finally go out in public again. When he and Liam sat down almost a week ago to plan out their next strategies for Emma and her fake relationship, they were planning somewhat long-term. Of course they were since this was a relationship with no end in sight.

Except it wasn't a real relationship, and he knew that. Liam didn't. Killian had to give Regina credit. Emma explained that the network executive wanted to play the fake part of the relationship close to the vest so rumors wouldn't spread. Hollywood was predictable that way. So far, nothing had leaked though. Everyone believed that Emma and her co-star were a real couple.

And yes, Killian was still trying very hard not to refer to Neal by his first name, even in his thoughts about the whole situation. As far as Killian was concerned, the bagel man was competition  — or at least a roadblock. He needed to figure out a way for them to finally be free of Emma's co-star. But as Regina made clear in their meeting yesterday, that probably wouldn't be anytime soon. The season premiere wasn't for several more weeks so Emma and Killian would just have to sneak around until then.

It wasn't fair, but it's what Killian had to do if he wanted to be with Emma, and he definitely wanted to be with Emma. Sure, the sex with her last weekend was amazing. But it was more than that. Even the little texts he got from her this week in the middle of the night while she was shooting and he was sleeping were able to brighten his day. It hadn't mattered that their responses were so delayed because of Emma’s crazy production schedule this week. He’d looked forward to seeing those little notes from her when he woke up.

He also loved shopping for dinner tonight. Emma told him to surprise her, so he decided to really go for it. He bought some salmon and found an easy recipe for it. He had put Emma's white wine from last weekend in the fridge as well to chill and cleaned some strawberries for dessert later. The asparagus was all ready to be thrown in the oven and get roasted with the fish. Killian even made bruschetta, toasting the little bread rounds perfectly without burning them and putting just enough fresh basil and tomatoes on the top.

He was just putting the last of them on a tray when there was a soft knock on the door. He hurried to open it, finding Emma on the other side. He quickly pulled her in and shut the door behind her. This sneaking around behind his brother's back was annoying but needed to be done, and that included dispensing with the niceties of politely inviting someone into his apartment.

Killian turned around to smile at her. Tonight, she was dressed more casually. Dark skinny jeans. Gray cardigan over a white t-shirt. Black leather boots.

"I like the boots."

She stepped closer, wrapping her arms around his waist. "I thought you would."

Her mouth was warm and soft and he couldn't help the small hum that came from his lips. He could feel the corners of her mouth turn up into a smile in response. Then she pulled away and looked up at him with her warm green eyes.

"Hi," she said.

"Hey."

She finally pulled away and walked into his place, putting her purse down next to the couch so it would be hidden from anyone who knocked on the door, like his stupid brother down the hall.

"Something smells good," she said. "Did you already order take-out?"

"No." He walked into his kitchen and held up the tray he had just finished. "Homemade bruschetta, my lady."

He said it with a flourish and watched as Emma's eyes went wide. "Did you make these?"

"I did," he replied. "Can you put them on the coffee table? I'll get things ready in here."

She gave his a quizzical look. "What things?"

"Salmon has to go in the oven with the asparagus, and we need some wine."

Emma gave him another odd smile but did as she was asked, walking over to the couch with the appetizers. Killian watched as she picked one from the tray and took a bite, her eyes fluttering closed.

"These are amazing."

She said it with her mouth half-full, which Killian found more endearing than impolite. He liked that he was able to make her that happy. He liked that he could put food in the oven for her and pour wine for her. He threw the fish and vegetables in and set the timer. Then he grabbed the glasses from the counter along with the bottle of wine that he’d opened before Emma arrived.

Emma took one of the empty glasses from his hand and waited for him to sit before he started pouring. It didn't look like she minded much considering she was grabbing another bruschetta from the tray, the tomato red against her pink lips.

And that's the way they sat for 20 minutes. It was just nice and calm and they talked about boring stuff that a normal couple would talk about. Killian told her about a case the Jones brothers took on involving an up-and-coming starlet who accidentally ran over a photographer's foot while she was trying to pull away from the valet at the Chateau Marmont. Frankly, the guy deserved it considering he stepped right in front of a moving car at the very last minute.

"We pulled in Robin to do a little Twitter engagement, which really helped."

Emma smiled. "You mean, you asked Robin to create a hashtag to manipulate impressionable teenage girls."

Killian saluted her with his wine glass. "You could be a natural at this job," he said before drinking more wine.

Emma told him about the late nights filming in the mountains near Santa Monica and their close encounter with a bear.

"Neal and I actually thought it was part of the scene and just some guy in a werewolf costume." She laughed. "I mean, the werewolf was in the script and it was freezing cold in the middle of the night. It was easy to make that mistake."

Killian tried to laugh at the story and was thankful that the oven's timer decided to go off right at that moment. The last thing he wanted was to listen to a story about Emma and Neal having fun on a late-night shoot. He was trying really hard to not think about their meeting earlier in the week with Regina. It was just too disheartening. Better to think about this moment with this woman.

He started putting their food on two matching white plates, setting both on the kitchen counter in front of his industrial bar stools.

"Wow, Killian. This looks amazing." Emma set her wine glass down next to her plate. "Do you need me to help with anything?"

"Can you grab the wine bottle off the coffee table?"

She turned to get the bottle while he grabbed a wine cooler and set it at the end of the counter for the bottle. Then he pulled some forks out of a drawer and picked up some napkins from the corner.

Emma stepped up and put the wine in the cooler just as Killian was rounding the corner of the counter, his lips brushing against her cheek. She smiled and took a seat at the counter next to him, watching him refill her wine glass before digging in to her food.

"This is so good," she said. "Better than any bagels Neal makes me."

She seemed to be more casual about this whole Neal thing than Killian was, and he wasn't sure why. He knew he should let it go, but it kept gnawing at his subconscious. The way she was holding Neal's hand at their meeting. The late-night shooting schedule that made it tough to talk. The bagels.

"How's dinner?"

Emma gave him a warm smile. "Amazing." She leaned over and kissed him before pulling back to linger a bit as she looked into his eyes. "I may have to find a way to reward you for this later on."

"I would like that," he said quietly.

Killian definitely liked that, but his window to ask her about her fake relationship seemed to vanish, leaving him with uncertainty and salmon.

xxx xxx xxx

After an hour of dinner and then sitting at the kitchen's bar drinking and talking, Killian finally started to move their empty plates out of the way.

"I hope you're ready for dessert."

"Seriously?" Emma asked. "Is there anything you can't make?"

"Plenty, and this is no big deal. Just a few things I picked up at the store."

"Like what?"

He nodded towards the fridge. "Second shelf in there is some shortcake and strawberries. Whipped cream is in the door."

Killian turned his back on her as he started to rinse off the dishes to put them in the dishwasher. He heard her pull out the package of shortcakes and heard the bowl of strawberries get placed on the counter. Then he heard the fridge door close and the hiss of the whipped cream can as he shut the dishwasher.

"You don't have to jump the gun just yet. I have plates for—"

Emma's lips were on his mouth, her tongue tasting like whipped cream as she pushed her way into his mouth. He was more than happy to oblige, letting the sweet cream drip down his chin. It was messy and forceful and making him hard. He wrapped his arm around her waist and dragged her closer while using his other hand to steal the whipped cream away from her.

He pulled away slightly, his forehead touching hers as her hot breath brushed across his cheeks.

"This was for dessert, Emma," he chastised.

"I know."

She stood up on her toes, kissing that sensitive spot just below his earlobe, making him moan with desire. His head was light, her kiss was still sweet on his tongue, her body rubbing up against him in a way that made him realize he wouldn't last much longer. He needed to take control of this now or he wouldn't have much to control soon.

"Go wait for me on the couch."

"Where are you going?" she whispered in his ear.

"Provisions."

He pulled away, his body crying out in anguish as he headed to the nightstand in his bedroom.

"Did you take that whipped cream with you?" she yelled out to him.

"Maybe."

He knew damn well that he had, knew he didn't have a choice. He couldn't risk walking back in there with Emma in control of that whipped cream can. He hadn't thought this dessert plan through apparently, too focused on getting dessert right to consider the consequences of buying whipped cream. But dammit, now that Emma had put dirty thoughts in his mind, he wasn't about to let them go.

Killian dropped the can on the nightstand long enough for him to open the drawer and pull out a condom. Then he headed back into the living room with both in his hand, ready to go into battle with a gorgeous woman.

What he wasn't ready for was the sight of Emma completely naked on his couch, her clothes tossed into a pile on the floor, her hand between her legs to cover herself while her perky breasts with their pink nipples were exposed to the cold air. He almost dropped the can and condom right on the floor. He could only stare until his hoarse voice finally started working again.

"Fuck me," he whispered

"Well, that is my plan," she said lustfully. "And you're wearing too many clothes."

Killian didn't care about his stupid clothes, instead taking three long strides to his couch until his lips were on Emma's again. He was thankful all he wore tonight was a black t-shirt with his jeans, quickly removing it before kissing her again. His hand fumbled on the cushion to grasp the whipped cream can he had dropped, pulling away just long enough to take in the sight of her breasts before he started shaking the can again as he rose above her.

"You have a dirty mind, Emma Swan."

She looked up at him with big green eyes, the pupils growing darker with lust. "Is that a problem?"

"Hell no."

He lavished whipped cream on her breasts before licking it off in slow steady strokes of his tongue. Her back arched in response, pushing her deeper into his mouth. She was delicious and amazing and while he wanted to spend the entire night sucking whipped cream off of every inch of her body, his cock was protesting that idea.

He couldn't take it anymore, tossing the whipped cream on to the floor as he grabbed the condom off the couch and ripped it open. Emma was working on his zipper before gently tugging his pants and boxer briefs down to his ankles, freeing him from their confines. She watched as he rolled the condom on and then laid back on the couch, opening herself up to him. Killian lowered himself on top of her, teasing the warm spot between her legs.

"I don't think I can go slow," he murmured in her ear.

"Then don't."

He pushed himself in, causing both of them to gasp in pleasure. Then he did what he told Emma he would do. He went in hard and fast, deeper and deeper as she groaned in pleasure beneath him. He could only think of the warmth that surrounded him as Emma's blonde hair splayed out on his couch, her nails digging into his back as she wrapped her legs around his waist. His anger and frustration from the week pulsated through his body as he worked harder and harder, her breasts bouncing with each thrust until he was so close to the brink.

"Right there," Emma moaned. "Right there!"

He could feel her tighten around him, taking him for everything he had as he finally let go and sent both of them over the edge.


	13. Chapter 13

Neal pulled up to the valet stand at Gladstone in Malibu and handed over the keys to his Porsche while Emma climbed out from her spot in the passenger seat. Liam wanted them to be photographed before the sun set so the co-stars had agreed to get ready for the date in their trailers and then go directly from the set to the beach.

Well, their fake date. Emma knew she had agreed to all of this fake relationship nonsense. She knew from the data Regina had that it was a good thing and helping the show get back on track with fans and advertisers. She was helping out a friend who had a rough night that got splashed all over the internet. Hell, something like that could happen to anyone. With so many people out in public with camera phones, one wrong move could go out to the world.

Emma had actually been thinking about that lately, especially after spending the night at Killian's place a few days ago. No one knew to look for her there and she was being very discreet when walking through his parking garage or by his brother's apartment. Even if someone did see her, she already had her excuse ready.

"I was just meeting with our crisis management team," she would say. "I really want people to know who the real Neal is and they're helping us with that."

There was a reason the network agreed to pay her as much as her male co-star for Misthaven. She was a damn good actor, even off the set.

As soon as they walked in, the maitre d' was waiting for them. Neal grabbed Emma's hand through the restaurant, making sure everyone could see they were together. They were led to a table right along the glass of the outdoor patio looking out over the Pacific Ocean.

"It seems a little cool out here tonight," she said. "Is it possible to sit inside?"

The host gave her a perplexed look. "The reservation said you wanted a seat on the outdoor patio by the water."

"Oh, that was my fault," Neal said. "I thought you would like to watch the sunset."

"I would." She turned back to the maitre d' and smiled. "What's a little cool air when I can eat a romantic dinner outside at sunset, right?"

His concern turned to a smile as he stepped behind her to pull her chair out and let them know their server would be there shortly before leaving the two of them alone to look at the menu.

"Nice recovery," Emma quietly said to Neal without looking up from the menu. "I forgot Liam wanted us by the beach for the paparazzi shots."

"You have to give him credit. He thinks of everything."

So what would Liam think when he found out the relationship he was promoting was fake and Emma was really screwing his brother? All that hard work to sell a real relationship when it was a fake, and he would be taken down by his own family.

The waiter took their orders and quickly moved away, leaving Emma and Neal alone again. Emma was looking out over the waves in Malibu when she felt Neal grab her hand. She started to instinctively pull away before his grip tightened.

"There's a photographer on the beach," he murmured.

Emma continued to look out until she saw him out of the corner of her eye. Sure enough, a photographer with a huge lens was right on the edge of the beach entrance with a camera pointed right at them.

She turned and smiled at her fake date. "So how do we sell this?" she quietly asked him.

"I don't know. Fake laughing?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "Good suggestion, but we both know how bad I am at making a fake laugh look real."

"It isn't one of your acting strengths."

He gave her a genuine smile, one that was hard to get from him lately. Neal looked over Emma's shoulder at the photographer, and then started to rub his thumb on the top of her hand.

Emma gave him a strained smile. "He's getting closer, isn't he?"

Neal shrugged it off. It was just part of their job for tonight. He grabbed his Coke with his free hand and took a few sips. Emma realized she hadn't seen him with an alcoholic beverage since Comic Con, but she wasn't sure if that was because this was part of the act or if he had genuinely stopped drinking.

"Can I ask you something?" he said.

"Sure."

"Why did you agree to do all this?" he asked. "I mean, this all seems to be a lot just for a TV show."

Emma looked out over the water, trying to come up with an answer. "I've made a lot of friendships with the people on this show over the seasons. I just couldn't let them all lose their jobs if I could help it."

"All lose their jobs because of me."

Emma turned to Neal, who was staring down at the table. "It could've happened to any of us. One wrong step, one wrong word, and everyone has their iPhones in your face ready to watch you fail and post it online."

"Right, but it happened to me," he said bitterly.

"And you're one of my friends. I didn't want you to lose your job if I could help it, and I know you would do the same for me."

Neal nodded quietly. He didn't have to say it, but he really would do the same for her if he had to.

She remembered the first time they met during the screen tests for the show a few years ago. There was something about the way Neal played the character that was so different and unique compared to other actors Emma tested with. She was so excited when she found out she got the job and that Neal would be her on-screen partner. They became friends early in the show's run — it's hard not to when you're on set with someone for that long everyday. But they were friends and nothing more. That being said, they did know a lot about each other after all these years and did care about each other. If he needed her for something, she would be there for him.

"Maybe one day I can find a way to pay you back," Neal said quietly.

"You don't need to pay me back," Emma said.

He shrugged. "But I will."

Their waiter walked over with their food and then quietly left them alone to talk again. They had been only on the set for two days before they went down to Comic Con and everything imploded. They hadn't really had a real conversation between friends that didn't involve this charade since then. So Emma asked Neal about the movie he worked on in London, and Neal wanted to know how her directing class at USC had been. They talked about the script they were shooting next week. It was a bit of a quirky episode the writers would throw in every once in awhile and for some reason, this one had an '80s cop drama thing going on.

"Why is wardrobe dressing me like Tubbs from  _Miami Vice_?" he asked. "And am I supposed to act like Don Johnson or just dress like him but act like myself?"

"Actually, Don Johnson was Crockett."

Neal stared at her in shock. "How the hell do you know that?"

"We studied the  _Miami Vice_  pilot in my directing class this summer," she said.

"Did you tell the writers about this?"

Emma's eyes went wide. "Oh, crap. This '80s script is my fault."

They both laughed at Emma's realization, finally calming down a bit when the waiter came back to clear off their table and give them dessert menus.

"Do you think we should order something else?" Emma asked.

Neal looked over her shoulder. "Photographer is still there and Liam told us we could charge dinner back to the network."

"How can that guy still be there?"

Neal leaned over again. "Well, to be fair, he's flirting with some skinny woman in a bikini so should we just go?"

"Liam said this was a company expense and the carrot cake here is amazing so I say dessert."

The sky was starting to turn dark as the waiter delivered Emma's cake and two cups of coffee. She started to dig into it as Neal started to stir some cream in his mug.

"So can I ask you a question?"

He gave her a guarded smile. "Uh oh, this sounds serious."

"I just…" Emma took a deep breath. She knew this may hurt Neal, but there was something that had been bugging her about all of this. "So why did you end up passed out at Comic Con?"

Neal stared down at his cup of coffee for several moments before quietly taking a sip. Then he finally looked up at her with tired eyes.

"You remember that party at your house last year? The one where I met Tamara?"

Emma nodded. Neal had told her that story a few weeks ago about Tamara, the actress who was at her house with her boyfriend but went home with Neal instead.

"So after that party, she broke up with her boyfriend and we dated — quietly — for a few months. She's still an up-and-coming actress, and I didn't want people to think she was just dating me to get her name out there."

Emma poked at her cake and picked up another bite. "Do you think she was?"

Neal shook his head. "Not really. I asked her about it one night, and she said she wasn't. But something changed that night." He shrugged and fiddled with the handle of his coffee cup. "Maybe it was the fact that I had accused her of using me for something more than an honest relationship."

"That she was faking it?"

"Yeah," he scoffed. "Ironic, isn't it?"

Emma gave him a tight smile. She knew exactly what he meant.

"Anyway, she broke up with me, and I told myself it was no big deal. It was better that way." He took another sip of coffee and looked down at the table. "I saw her at Comic Con that night with I don't know. Some guy. So I just started drinking." He gave her a helpless smile. "I don't remember the rest, but I had plenty of texts and emails the next day to fill in the gaps."

Emma felt awful for him, imagining how hard it must've been for him to see Tamara there and push down his feelings. Or in his case, swallow them down with drink after drink and have the effects of that binge plastered all over the internet.

And if she was being honest, she also kind of understood what it was like to want to be with someone else and not be able to really be with them. Her heart had ached when she'd left Killian's place on Sunday, sneaking past his brother's apartment. And his homemade dinner was amazing, but she so wished they could have a dinner like that out in public. Drop the facade they hid behind and live in the truth.

Emma's truth was that she wanted to be with Killian. Neal's truth was that he wanted to be with Tamara. And yet both of them were living a lie.

She couldn't help but feel sorry for Neal and his broken heart. She reached up to touch his cheek and give him some little bit of comfort. He looked up and gave her a small smile, his hand reaching to cover hers and give it a gentle squeeze.

"I'm sorry I dragged you into all this, Emma. Especially over some woman."

Emma pulled her hand away and reached for her fork again. "Not some woman. She's someone you care about. We'll figure out a way to fix all of this."

"Oh, really?" Neal asked incredulously.

She shrugged. "Maybe." Then she pushed her dessert plate into the middle of the table. "The waiter brought two forks so eat some of this."

Neal smiled and started digging in as the two of them finished off dessert.

After paying the bill, they stood up and Neal grabbed her hand as they walked out of the restaurant. Sure, it was for show, but Emma also felt there was some truth behind it. For two friends who had to fake being something more than that, their relationship — their real relationship — had felt strained these past few weeks. It was like their friendship had become an act, which was tough for both of them to maintain.

But tonight, they actually talked like friends again. They had a good time. Neal made her laugh, and Emma finally understood why this mess had started in the first place. She was telling him the truth when she said they would figure out a way to fix all of this. She wanted her friend back. She wanted him to be happy with a woman that made him happy.

And it solidified another truth for her: She wanted to be with Killian. Not just in his apartment or sneaking around. She wanted to be with him, she wanted everyone to know that she chose to be with him, and she would do whatever it took to make that happen.

xxx xxx xxx

Last night was horrible.

Well, the photos from last night were great and romantic and everything they needed to be. But they were still horrible.

Killian rubbed his face with his hands again and stared at the shots on his phone's screen. Emma holding Neal's hand. Neal giving her a warm, genuine smile during dinner. Her hand on his cheek, his eyes closed.

Fuck. It was too much. Liam had asked them to have a romantic dinner and try and sell it a bit for the pap he was going to tip off, but this was too much. Right, sure, Emma was an actress, but it didn't feel like it was just an act.

And what made it worse is that Killian knew Emma was acting — or at least she was supposed to be acting. But those photos looked as real to him as they would to anyone who didn't know the relationship between the two co-stars was fake.

He took another breath and threw his phone down on his coffee table. He was jealous, he knew that's what this was, right? It was just jealousy that Neal got to have a romantic dinner by the beach with Emma. It was jealously that Neal got to have Emma touch him like that in public instead of sneaking around.

The photos weren't real, but they felt real, just like the real pain Killian had when he looked at them.

He couldn't take sitting in his apartment thinking about Emma anymore. He changed into some jeans from his closet, brushing his hand against his long leather jacket that looked so good on her. There was just too much in his apartment that already reminded him of her. He needed to get out.

Killian grabbed his wallet and keys from his catch-all by the door and quickly headed out. He was so focused on getting the hell away that he almost didn't notice Liam's door open.

"Brother, I was just about to go looking for you."

Killian kept walking. "I'm leaving."

"Well, give me five minutes," Liam said. "I need a drink."

"I'm going for a drive by myself."

"Killian?"

He stopped and turned back to see his brother standing in the doorway of his apartment with a look of concern on his face.

"I just need some fresh air," he said.

"Are you sure you're OK?"

Killian forced himself to give his brother a smile. "Fine, really. I'm taking a quick drive and I'll be back."

"Give me a call if you need something, OK?" Killian simply nodded. "And swing by tonight when you get home. Maybe we can talk?"

"Maybe."

Killian gave his brother another half-hearted smile and ducked into the stairwell, bounding down the steps two at a time in some places. He needed to get out of this stupid building.

His black Mustang fired up and he rolled down the windows as he pulled out of the parking structure and into the night.

Killian didn't have a plan for where he was going, he just knew he needed to get out. He thought about heading down to the Pacific Coast Highway and driving down the curving part of it up by Malibu. But that would take him past Gladstone and remind him of Emma. Or he thought about heading down to the Santa Monica Pier where he would see all those happy couples at restaurants and the arcade. But again, happy couples would make him think of Emma and what he couldn't have with her.

So he kept driving, not realizing where he was going until he was turning onto Emma's street. He obviously was thinking about her and those stupid pictures. Rather than a drive to clear those photos out of his head, his car instead brought him right to her.

It was late and a Wednesday night. Nothing crazy in this neighborhood on a night like tonight with only a handful of cars parked on the street. Killian drove by Emma's house to check all of them and make sure none of them were paparazzi. They were all empty.

He turned around at the end of the block and came back to Emma's, making sure to park his car a few doors down from her place. Then he walked down the sidewalk, checking over his shoulder and in front of him. Hiding their relationship had made him so paranoid. But he'd gotten good at it. Maybe too good. No one knew, not even his brother. He could only imagine his brother's reaction if he found out Killian was here right now.

Killian took one more look at the street and then quickly walked up to Emma's front door and rang the doorbell. He heard footsteps on the other side before a person stopped for a moment. Then the door opened and she was on the other side wearing black yoga pants with her gorgeous blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"Killian?"

He quickly pushed past her and closed the door behind him so no one would see him.

"Is anyone here?" he asked her.

The edges of her mouth began to turn up in a smile. "No, just you."

"No one else?"

She shook her head. "No one else," she said. "I didn't expect you, but I'm glad you're here."

Emma stood up on her toes and started reaching for him, but Killian quickly pulled away and invited himself into her living room. He had been here before, had confronted her about her relationship with Neal here before. But while things had changed so much since then, lies had been revealed, his feelings for her exposed, there was still something that was the same.

He was jealous of Neal.

He knew it was probably irrational to blame Emma for that. But in that moment, he needed to blame someone and she had opened the door for him.

He turned to see her standing with a worried look on her face. "Are you OK?" she asked. "You seem a bit…"

"Angry? Frustrated? Which one do you want to choose, Emma?"

She took a step back and stared at him. "Did I miss something?" she asked. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," he said. "I honestly don't know."

"OK." She was still staring at him with those green eyes that drove him crazy, and this time it wasn't in a good way. "Is there something you want to say?"

Killian took a deep breath and dragged his hands across his face before he put them on his hips and squared his stance. "Do you care about him?"

"Who?"

"Who?" he asked incredulously. "Neal. Do you care about him?"

Well, that didn't seem to be a good idea based on Emma's reaction. But really at this point, he didn't care if she was giving him a death glare.

"Of course, I do. He's my friend."

"Are you sure?" he asked her bitterly. "Because based on the pictures from last night, you didn't look like friends."

"From last— You mean the restaurant?" She paused and took a breath. "You told us to look like a couple on a romantic dinner for the photographer that was stalking us from the beach. So that's what we did. We did what you told us to do."

"Liam told you to look like a couple for a few photos. He didn't tell you to put your hands all over each other."

"All over?" she yelled. "What fucking photos were you looking at? My hands were not all over Neal!"

"Oh really? You didn't hold his hand or walk with your fingers entwined or touch his cheek? You didn't share dessert with him?"

Emma just stared at him with no explanation. Of course she didn't have an explanation because Killian knew what he'd seen in those photos. He knew that there was more than just friendship between the two co-stars. Or did he? Because what if they were just friends? Then the problem here would be Killian's jealousy.

Really, did it even matter which was which? Either one would mean that Killian had made a huge mistake coming here. He shouldn't be here. He shouldn't have driven all this way when he was angry and jealous. He should have never turned onto her street.

But now he was here and Emma was staring at him with pain on her face. Whatever he just said, he hurt her. He just wasn't sure how he felt about that. After all, he was hurting too. It hurt him to see those photos. It hurt him to read the comments on the photos about how Emma and Neal were a cute couple and how Emma saved her co-star and made him a better man. What about Killian?

The silence continued to linger between them until Emma finally broke her eye contact with him, staring out through the large windows in the room.

"You have no idea how hard this is for me," she quietly said.

"For you?" he asked incredulously. "Tell me how hard this is for you."

Emma quickly turned to look at him, her eyes fiery and wide. "I'm doing this for my show, for my crew, and yes, for my co-star. I'm doing this because I don't want 300 people that I like working with to lose their jobs." Emma took a step forward and pointed at him. "But I'm also doing this for you. Because you and your stupid brother asked me to do whatever I needed to do to sell my relationship with Neal. I did what you asked of me."

"Yeah, well, you sure fucking sold it last night."

"You're damn right I did! I'm an actress who was acting, just as you asked me to do."

He stared at her. "I didn't ask you to make it look so real that it hurts for me to even breathe, Emma. I didn't ask for you to rub it in my face what I can't have with you."

"What you can't have with me?" she replied bitterly. "What exactly can't you have with me?"

"I can't go out in public with you or be honest with my brother about my relationship with you. I can't even have a romantic dinner on the beach with you like Neal did."

"Yeah, well, right now there are definitely a few things I can't have with you either," she replied bitterly.

He scoffed. "Like what?"

"How about your trust?" she asked. "I told you this was fake and you've played along just as much as I have. You're the one who comes up with the ideas to sell that relationship. You're here accusing me of having a romantic relationship with Neal, but you know that's not the truth."

"Do I?"

If Killian was being honest with himself, he knew that she was telling the truth. He knew he believed her. But those stupid photos were clouding his judgment, making him jealous, hurting his heart. This was just too much for him to handle anymore. And maybe it was too much for Emma.

She stared at him. "Can you honestly say that you think I'm lying to you?"

He took a step closer and looked back at her. "Can you honestly say that you're committed to us?"

Emma blinked and her face faltered a bit. Killian wasn't sure why. Did he actually finally get through to her and make her understand how hard this was to see her with another man, no matter how fake it was? Or did he push her too far and lose her forever?

She took a few steps away from him and ducked her head. "I think you need to go."

He shrugged, too emotionally drained to do much more. "Yeah, I think I do."

Killian headed for the door, pausing just before he grabbed the handle. He couldn't face her right now, couldn't look at her again. But he needed to say one last thing.

"I'm tired of living with all these lies, Emma."

He heard Emma sigh from behind him. "I know how you feel."

Killian took a deep breath and walked out before anymore could be said between them.


	14. Chapter 14

Emma had another long day on the set. Another day when she planned to go home, do some more stress baking, have a glass of wine and sit in her house looking out over the city. Alone.

What was the point of having a house if it wasn't a home? What was the point of having a place you couldn't share with someone else? Hell, what was the point of baking cookies and brownies if you had to eat them alone?

Killian had left her place in a huff more than a week ago and hadn't talked to her since. It made her furious. How could he stand there in her house and accuse her of having a real relationship with Neal? It was insane. Unlike everyone else, he knew it was fake and he was still angry. And about what? A stupid dinner?

But a few days ago, she'd cooled off enough to go back and look at the pictures.

Killian was right.

Emma and Neal really did sell that dinner for the photographer. He really did hold her hand. She really did brush her fingers on his cheek. Emma did feel emotion for Neal. He was her friend and his own heart was broken in such a catastrophic way that she was faking a relationship just to help him fix his reputation and save their show.

Should Killian have trusted her? Of course. But did he have a right to be mad? Yes.

Because the things Killian wanted — the romantic dinners in public and the ability to be open about their relationship. She wanted those things too. She wanted to tell Elsa what was going on. She wanted to go out to dinner somewhere and have Killian hold her hand.

She wanted all of it to be open. No more hiding, no more lies. She just didn't know how to do that, at least not yet.

What made it worse is she hadn't talked to Killian since that night he'd come barging in her front door when they fought. For more than a week, no texts, no calls, nothing. Even the emails that were sent from the Jones brothers to coordinate plans with Emma and Neal were sent by Liam. Nothing came from Killian anymore.

Emma dragged herself back to the line of trailers in the parking lot of the studio, wondering what the hell she was supposed to do about all of it. Regina said they had to fake it for a few more weeks until the season premiere. Neal said he would be at her place tonight like he was every Friday night — and he was going to bring bagels. Again.

"Hey, Emma!"

She turned to see Neal walking towards her in that crazy pink suit wardrobe gave him for their '80s episode.

"Did you see the email from Liam?"

She sighed. "No, I haven't had a chance to check yet. What now?"

Neal gave her a surprised look that made her realize she probably sounded more bitchy than she intended. "Uh, he wanted to come over tonight to go over a plan for the next two weeks. You know, to build up to the premiere."

"What time?"

"Seven."

Emma nodded. "OK, so are you coming over then?"

"I'll get there a little before that if it's OK."

She quickly answered with a "No problem, see you then," before heading into her trailer.

She knew Neal meant well and wasn't trying to be a jerk. He was just relaying a message from Liam. But she also knew she was going to have to use every acting trick in the book to get through the meeting tonight. This was frustrating, so frustrating, and all she wanted was to be near Killian so he could help her make this all go away. All the tension, all the pain, all the frustration and anger. She needed Killian, and she couldn't have him.

Instead, she drove home alone to her empty house and changed into a pair of black yoga pants and a long sweatshirt with Misthaven's logo on it. There were at least a few perks to working on a popular television show.

Neal showed up around 6:30 with an overnight bag and bagels in hand. He was looking more depressed than when Emma had left him on the lot a few hours earlier.

"You OK?" she asked.

"Huh?" He looked up at her as if she had pulled him out of some deep thought. "Yeah, yeah. It's nothing, I'm fine." He gave her an awkward smile and walked into the house. "Do you have anything to drink? Like maybe a beer?"

"A beer?" she asked. "I actually do have beer. And brownies. Come on in."

He followed her into the kitchen and she cracked open two beers for them. Then she picked up the plate of brownies she made last night as part of her stress baking over the whole thing with Killian. They both sat down at her kitchen counter and began to drink.

"You know, I haven't had one of these since Comic Con," he told her. "I always got worried someone who see me buying a beer and start asking about my non-existent rehab. All because I got a little too drunk one night and it went viral."

"If they only knew what had really happened."

"If only." Neal took another long sip from his bottle. "Do you ever wish we could get out of this fake relationship thing?"

"I mean, sometimes," she said. "But I'm doing this for the show, and I know it's made a difference in helping your image, right?"

Neal nodded and looked awkwardly down at his bottle. "Yeah, I just… I don't know. Nevermind."

"No, not nevermind. You just what?"

"I saw Tamara tonight on my way over. I went to my usual bagel place and she was there. Alone." He took a deep breath and looked up at her. "I googled her. She broke up with her boyfriend a few weeks after Comic Con."

"Oh," Emma said. "Well, that's good, right?"

Neal shrugged and stared down at the counter. "I have a girlfriend."

"Right."

"Not that I don't like being your boyfriend."

"Oh no, I get it," Emma replied. "I'm not offended. Believe me."

She gave him a small laugh and he smiled back at her.

"Besides, isn't there someone you would want to be with?" he asked.

"Me? I mean—"

The doorbell rang and they both looked up from the kitchen counter.

"I guess it's show time." Neal looked glumly down at his beer before downing the rest of the bottle. "Where can I toss this? Don't want them thinking I could end up drunk in the gutter again."

"Recycle bin is under the sink," she said, handing him her empty bottle.

Emma left Neal in the kitchen to clean up their drinks while she went to answer the door. Liam was the first one there to greet her with a warm smile.

"Hey, Emma!" He leaned over and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Sorry for the late notice, but we were able to finalize some plans and figured it would be easier to just go over all of it in person."

"Also, I brought food from La Cabana." Elsa followed Liam into the house with two take-out bags. She leaned towards Emma and smiled. "I got your favorite enchiladas."

"Thanks."

And then there was Killian. He walked in with barely a "hey," in Emma's direction before closing the door behind him and stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"Hi," Emma replied quietly.

She didn't expect seeing Killian again would hurt this much. The way he brushed her off as if she was nobody important to him really stung. Now she knew how he felt when he saw those photos of her and Neal. She got it. She just hoped it wasn't too late for them to fix it.

Neal came out and greeted them with generic pleasantries as Elsa put the take-out on Emma's dining room table.

"Emma said you liked fish tacos so I grabbed an order of those for you." Elsa pulled a silver foiled container out of the bag. "Hope that's OK."

"Yeah, it's good."

Neal gave Elsa an awkward smile and sat down at the table with his food. Everyone else followed his lead, grabbing their containers while Emma went into the kitchen for forks and knives. They exchanged pleasant conversation and small talk over dinner without anyone going too overboard. It wasn't bad enough that they had to stray into "So what about the weather?" territory, but there was a lot of Hollywood talk. The latest movie productions or what Neal did this past summer during the hiatus. Elsa talked about the new shows she was assigned to cover for the network's public relations office. ("I have a feeling at least one of them won't give me too much trouble since they'll probably get canceled after five episodes.") Liam mentioned his past week's Sunday brunch with Killian at a new restaurant in West Hollywood. Killian played along, filling in his brother's story with little details from that morning.

He seemed to be in good spirits, or at least hiding his anger for Emma well now that they were all sitting down together. It was easy for him to play off his brother's story or make a joke about Elsa's work. But he barely acknowledged Emma's existence and she wasn't sure if that was better or worse than when he yelled at her. At least yelling would tell her how he was feeling.

After dinner, they threw their take-out containers in the trash, grabbed a few of Emma's brownies and headed into her living room to go over the upcoming plan with the Jones brothers. Liam pulled out some papers that he passed out to everyone and started talking about what he had arranged for the next few weeks. Emma noticed that Killian was very quiet sitting next to his brother despite the fact that he probably planned most of what was on the itinerary. Another movie premiere. A charity event for a local homeless shelter.

The big event was coming up in two weeks. The network had decided to go all out and plan a huge premiere for the start of the new season. There would be a red carpet and a party with food and an open bar. Everyone was expected to attend to watch the first episode of the season.

But as Elsa and Liam ran through the plans, Emma noticed that Killian was staring down at the paper in his hands, practically crumpling it from the force he was using to hold it.

She noticed someone else's hand was getting tighter as well. Neal had taken her hand in his when they sat down next to each other on her couch, leaning over the paper on her coffee table together, looking like a real couple. But he had also gone silent, his gaze fixed on the page as his hand pulled tighter on hers.

Elsa was in the middle of some logistical crap about limousines when she first heard it.

"I can't do this."

It was quiet, barely above a whisper. For a moment, she even wondered if she had heard anything at all or if it was some voice in her head. But then Neal's grip got tighter and she heard it again.

"I can't do this."

She looked over and saw Neal staring at the page, his foot bouncing nervously. She instinctively put a hand on his knee to calm him down.

"You OK?" she said quietly.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Emma."

"Sorry for what?" she asked.

"Is there something wrong?"

Both of them looked up to see Liam staring at them with concern on his face. In fact, Emma noticed all of them were staring at her and Neal with concern — even Killian.

"Yeah, there is."

Emma could feel her body go stiff. She had been able to play off of Neal pretty well since this all began. Sure, it was strange sometimes and totally off the cuff, but they had managed to sell this fake relationship. This time though, Neal's change in attitude was worrying Emma because she had no idea what he was doing or how she would have to act in response. He was going off script and she wasn't prepared.

"Neal?"

He turned to her with the most sincere look she had seen from him since this whole thing began after Comic Con. He gave her a defeated shrug and turned back to their audience.

"Our relationship is fake."

The room went completely quiet as everyone stared at him. Emma's hand went limp and she let it fall out of Neal's grasp, too surprised herself to try and reach for it again. Even Killian seemed to be shocked.

Liam shook his head a bit and finally seemed to find his voice, but it wasn't in his usually confident tone.

"I… I don't understand," he stammered.

"It's fake. All of it," Neal said, waving his hand in the air. "The movie premieres and the dinners and the stupid paparazzi photos. It's all fake. It was Regina's idea to help rehab my image. Emma just went along with it because she's a good friend and a good person who was concerned about me and our show."

He looked over at her, giving her a genuine smile, and she finally broke out of her own shock to give him a warm look in return.

"Emma, I'm sorry," he said. "For all of this, but especially for having you clean up my mess."

"It was the right thing to do," she said.

"Of course you would say that," he said with a slight laugh. Then he put his hands on her shoulders and looked into her eyes. "You were the best fake girlfriend a man could ask for, and I'm so lucky to have a friend willing to help me like that. But I have somewhere else I want to be right now."

She gave him a tight smile. "I know."

He leaned over and gave her a small kiss on her forehead. Then he stood up and did the same for Elsa, who leaned into him and gave him a supportive smile as he looked down at her. Then he offering his hand to Liam.

"I really appreciate what you did for me, but it's time I stop living a lie."

Liam still seemed to be in a bit of shock as he took Neal's hand. "Yeah, sure. Go and we'll uh… figure out the rest."

"Thanks."

He walked over to the other Jones brother and shook his hand as well, quietly saying "Great work, Killian," before making his way out the door.

Killian sat down and put his elbows on his knees, leaning over with his head down. Unlike Liam, who still seemed to be shaken, Killian seemed to be pulling himself together. A little. Because even though he knew that her relationship with Neal was fake, she suspected he didn't think it was going to all fall apart like this. And frankly, she didn't expect it either.

The house seemed quiet and calm despite the bomb that Neal had just blown up in the middle of her living room. It was a good thing though, helping her clear the fuzziness out of her brain. All of these weeks of faking it, of worrying about a wrong step, of sneaking around. All of that was just gone.

"So uh…" Liam cleared his throat and turned to Emma. "Is there anything else you want to tell us?"

Emma looked at him, wondering what exactly she could say. How did she put all of this into her own words? She could think of only one way, only one fact. And if Neal could speak his truth, so could she.

"I'm in love with your brother."

Liam's jaw went slack. She was pretty sure she broke his brain. All this confessing may have finally pushed him too far.

"My brother?" he asked. "You mean Killian?"

He gestured towards the other Jones who also had the same shocked look on his face.

"Do you have any other brothers?" Emma asked.

Liam's eyes went wide as if he was expecting another crazy revelation to completely knock him senseless. Emma gave him a exasperated sigh.

"Yes, I mean Killian. I'm in love with your brother, Killian."

Elsa let out a little squeal of delight as Killian ducked his head, trying to hide the emotion on his face while Liam stared at him.

"Emma?" Liam asked. "The purse at your place, was that Emma's?"

"Aye."

"Oh! Was it the brown Michael Kors purse?" Elsa asked.

"Yeah," she said.

"You can fit so many bottles of wine in that thing. I'm so envious."

"Elsa?"

She straightened up at the sound of her name from Liam's lips.

"Sorry, but it really is a great purse."

"It was at my brother's apartment!"

Elsa made another squeeing sound in approval as Liam put his head into his hands.

"I'm so confused," he mumbled through the hands over his face. Then he pulled them down his cheeks and just stared at Emma. "That's…it's just…"

He looked to his brother, whose smile was small but so radiant. Then he turned to Emma, and she realized she probably had the same look on her face. Liam sighed and slowly started picking up the papers on the coffee table.

"We should probably head out and rework this plan or blow it up or whatever."

He sounded so dejected, like he was about to toss all of that in a fire and drink a bottle of whiskey as he watched it burn.

Elsa bounced up from her seat and bounded over to give Emma a huge hug. "We'll have to take the brothers on a double date sometime."

"The brothers?"

Her friend just smiled before turning to grab her purse and head for the door. Liam and Killian stood off to the side, quietly talking until Liam put his hand on his brother's shoulder and walked away.

"We'll discuss all this later, Emma," Liam said.

"Sure," she said. "I'm sorry we messed up all your plans."

"Don't be." He gave her a tight smile. "We can handle this. I mean, this is definitely the first time we've had to deal with a case like this, but we can handle it."

"Thank you."

He gave her a small nod, then opened the door for Elsa as the two of them headed out.

Emma turned to find it was just her and Killian, alone, in her house. She stood there for a moment, trying to figure out how to start this or who should start this or just what she needed to do next.

"Emma, I—"

"Nope, I get to talk first."

Killian's face became more serious, but there was still a bit of openness there, encouraging her to go on. He gave her a small nod to continue.

"I looked at the pictures again," she said quietly. "You were right. They did look romantic, and I realized that's because I was thinking of you. Neal told me he was got drunk that night because he couldn't be with the person he wanted to be with. And as I sat with him at dinner, I realized that I wasn't with the person I wanted to be with, and I wished I could have changed that."

Killian ducked his head and she walked over so she could be closer to him. Not so close that she was invading his personal space but close enough that she could really see the blue in his eyes even if he wasn't looking directly at her.

"I'm sorry I didn't say that to you. And I'm sorry I didn't fight for you more. I should have done that because I really am in love with you."

He stared at her without moving, as if he trying to decide what to do next, the silence stretching out between them.

Then his lips were on hers. Warm but determined and exactly what she had to have at that moment. She needed him and she needed to be with him again. The past week was torturous. Really, any of the time she was apart from him since their night together at Comic Con was torturous.

She didn't have to do that anymore. She was where she wanted to be again, in his arms, feeling him close to her. This is where she belonged.

He finally pulled away and looked at her.

"I'm sorry I fought with you," he said. "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that. I was just jealous even though I knew what was really going on."

"You were jealous?" she asked teasingly.

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, I was jealous," he replied. "I didn't like seeing you in photos like that with another man, especially when I wished it was me there with you."

"I wished it was you there with me too." She stood up on her toes and gave him a gentle kiss. "And I'm sorry I didn't try harder to get you back and make you stay."

He gave her a mischievous smile. "Perhaps there's a way we can make it up to each other?"

"Perhaps." She tentatively pulled herself up and wrapped her arms around his neck. He didn't pull back, which she took as a good sign. "I don't think you've seen much of my house yet, have you? Do you want to go on a tour?"

"Would that tour include your bedroom?" he asked teasingly.

"Maybe."

He smiled and then leaned down to kiss her again. "Then let's start there."


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hang on! We're close to the end, but there is an epilogue after this!

The sun was a glaring ball of flame in Emma's eyes, reminding her she didn't sleep on her living room couch for a reason. But, well, there was also a reason to stay right where she was.

Killian.

Yesterday, she put everything on the line. She finally told the truth and set herself free — with a little help from Neal. She still didn't expect him to blurt out that their entire relationship had been fake, but she was definitely thankful to him for it.

Of course, that led to Emma making her own confession. She was in love with Killian. It was that easy and that simple. Plus she was pretty sure he felt the same way. He hadn't said it exactly, but to be fair, there wasn't really much time to say anything considering how busy they were with more enjoyable activities.

Emma definitely gave him a tour of her house, losing articles of clothing in her bedroom, her kitchen and now her living room. She looked down to realize she was still wearing her free t-shirt from the network's upfronts party two years ago. It was big and comfortable and covered her ass, which right now was clad only in a pair of clean underwear — her fourth wardrobe change since Killian's arrival at her place yesterday. Yeah, it was that kind of night.

Emma started to stir and tried to pull herself off the couch, but there was something keeping her in place.

"Stwaay."

She laughed as the arm around her waist pulled her closer. "Sorry, I didn't get that."

Killian pulled his head out of the couch cushion and dusted her neck with kisses. "You have to stay," he whispered in her ear.

Then she heard a loud rumbling from his stomach.

"Are you sure? Sounds like you may be hungry."  
  
"I did work up quite an appetite because of you."

Killian gave her a lopsided smile as she stood up, his eyes immediately falling on her ass peeking out of the bottom of her t-shirt. She figured it was better not to call him out for it. Besides, she took it as a compliment. A man who was clearly starving because of the workout she had put him through and was still quite interested the next day.

She grabbed her black yoga pants that had been discarded over the back of her wingback chair and pulled them on. She didn't mind giving Killian a show, but she also was a bit cold. The pants were practical. She turned to see him doing the same and was disappointed to watch him pull his jeans over his lanky frame. But damn, did he make those jeans look good.

She finally turned away and started padding towards the kitchen. "What would you like for breakfast?" she asked over her shoulder.

"What do you have?"

Her eyes landed on a brown paper bag on the counter and she groaned in frustration.

"Neal left his bagels here," she said. "I'm assuming you don't want those."

Killian scowled and took a seat at her kitchen counter. "Can I pass?"

"You can pass."

She grabbed the bag and stuffed it in the corner of her kitchen counter. Turning back, she saw Killian's head down as he stared at the counter.

"You OK?"

His head snapped up, his blue eyes finding hers. He gave her a tight smile and shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, just wallowing. It just kind of sucks that we're still tied up in this mess."

"I know." Emma walked over and took a seat next to him, letting her fingers dance over his bare shoulder before resting on his arm. "Maybe it's time for me to have a talk with Regina. I think I've done enough for the show, haven't I?"

"You've done more than enough, love," he said. "I won't hide that it's been challenging and frustrating for me, but it's also been kind of amazing to watch your dedication to the whole ruse for your show, and for Neal."

She smirked. "Even for Neal?"

"Even for Neal," he admitted. "He seems like a good guy who just got caught in a bad situation, and you did what you did to help a friend."

She scoffed. "Sometimes I wonder if I should have done any of this."

He grabbed her hand from his arm and entwined her fingers with his. "It was the right thing to do for your crew."

"But it meant lying to you," she said quietly.

"Yeah, that part sucked."

She laughed at his honesty and put her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and forcing herself to just breathe. She had played her part, maybe even acted as a martyr for her show, doing the hard stuff for others' happiness and job security. But she had been waiting for someone to set her free, and Neal's confession last night had finally broken the spell. She had to give him credit for that.

But this is where she really needed to be right now. It's what she really wanted.

"Can I tell you something?"

Killian groaned slightly. "I don't know. Do I want to hear this?"

"Um, yeah. I think so."

He kissed the top of her forehead and put his arm around her waist. "Go on."

"The night after we met at Comic Con, I stood in front of your hotel room door and almost knocked on it."

"What stopped you?"

"I was scared," she said. "I didn't know what to say. I was worried your brother would answer and I would blurt out 'I'm Emma Swan from that TV show, and I want to fuck your brother senseless. Is he here?'"

Killian's laughter vibrated against her body. "He would've deserved that after locking me out the night before." He pulled her closer and rested his head on hers. "I thought about knocking on your door too. I heard you come in that night and really considered it."

"Why didn't you?"

"I was scared too," he said. "Plus, I couldn't come up with a good excuse for my brother either. Apparently, Liam is a weakness we share."

"He's the worst," Emma jokingly replied.

She reluctantly pushed away from Killian and kissed him on the cheek before heading back into the kitchen. She grabbed a pan and some pancake mix that she had been inspired to by after Killian made her breakfast a few weeks ago. She'd never thought about making them when Neal was around, and she would've felt bad if she hadn't eaten the bagels he brought over.

But Killian was different. He was special, and she wanted to do something nice for him. Besides, she owed him.

"What are you doing, love?"

"Making pancakes," she said. "If that's OK with you."

He gave her a teasing smile. "Well, I like pancakes, but that's awful presumptuous of you to think I'm staying around for breakfast."

She started mixing the batter in a bowl with some water. "You can't leave even if you want to. The paparazzi have a standing date every Saturday morning with my front door."

"Good point. Guess I'm stuck here for awhile, which mean I need some sustenance before another workout with you."

He got off the kitchen bar stool and walked over to join Emma in the kitchen. She turned on the burner and started pouring the batter in the pan as Killian came up behind her and kissed her neck. She couldn't help but moan in approval.

"Coffee?"

"Sounds good," she said. "The coffee pot and all the stuff is over there in the corner."

He hummed and started working on getting the pot filled and the coffee grounds in a filter. She grabbed some plates from the cupboard and began to stack some of the finished pancakes up for them.

"Syrup?"

"In there," she said, pointing to the fridge. "It's the good stuff too, not the high fructose crap."

He smiled and nuzzled his chin into her neck. "I like the good stuff," he murmured.

They quietly moved through the kitchen in tandem with each other without saying a word. He grabbed the plates and put the syrup on the counter. She opened the cupboard and got two coffee mugs out. He started pulling open random drawers until he found the forks — and no, Emma wasn't going to help him. She liked watching Killian move around her house like this. He looked like he just belonged there.

The two of them sat down at her counter and Killian drank from his coffee. Then he cut into his pancakes and took a bite.

"These are amazing."

"Thank you."

He smiled and started cutting some more. "So I have to run something by you that's been nagging me a bit lately."

"Oh no, what now?" she said tentatively.

He looked over at her with a thoughtful expression. "My brother is dating Elsa, right?"

Emma laughed. "Oh definitely," she said. "Although I have to give them credit. I didn't really put it all together until last night when Elsa said something about a double date."

He shook his head and laughed. "They've been pretty good about keeping it quiet, but there were way too many little things. It was right after she hired us for…" He paused. "Uh, your 'project'?"

She smiled. "That's a good way to describe it."

"Yeah, when we got hired for that," Killian said. "That's when I put the pieces together and realized she was the one in our hotel room at Comic Con."

Emma's fork stopped in midair. "She was the reason for the sock on the door?" she asked. "What else tipped you off?"

Killian rolled his eyes and dragged a piece of pancake through the syrup on his plate. "Where do I begin?"

He started going on a long story about all the pieces he had been able to put together. The glances between them, the little coincidences. The hickey on Liam's neck. And as he continued to talk, Emma laughed and smiled. She was happy and comfortable and realized somewhere around her second cup of coffee that this is where she needed to be and this is who she needed to be with.

Because really, there was no one quite like a pirate publicist named Killian Jones.

Xxx xxx xxx

_One week after the season premiere of Misthaven_

Jones Brother Management  
Press Release

It is with sadness that Emma Swan and Neal Cassidy have mutually decided to not continue with their romantic relationship.

"While we will no longer be romantic partners, we're committed to remaining friends and co-stars of _Misthaven_. We both love the show and can't wait for fans to see new episodes of _Misthaven_ and the cases our characters tackle each week. Rest assured that while our love for each other may not have lasted, our love for the fans is forever."


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t want to say goodbye! But this is the end. It doesn’t feel like I started this that long ago, but I just checked my email and the welcome email for the Captain Swan Big Bang authors went out on April 1. Holy crap, has it been that long?
> 
> I want to thank @shady-swan-jones for all her awesome art for this project. Thanks to @idristardis for the amazing feedback on all of this. And we couldn’t have done any of it without our fearless leaders at @captainswanbigbang.
> 
> There's a Captain Swan Big Bang collection on AO3 for anyone who needs to catch up on other fics that are almost over and those that have been completed. There were 25 Big Bang fics this time around so there’s definitely something there that everyone will like.
> 
> Finally, thank you for all the support -- the reblogs and the comments and the likes and all that. I really appreciate all your support of this!

"Ugh, why do you have to wear that?"

Killian turned quickly, his leather jacket swishing around him, to see Emma standing in the doorway of the bathroom. She was wearing a long flowery dress with her hair cascading over her shoulders, and she looked beautiful.

"You don't like my attire?" he said in his high-brow pirate accent.

"Oh, I like it. I like it very much. That's why you can't wear it."

He laughed and walked over, leaning over to try and give her a kiss, but she ducked away from him.

"I just did my make-up," she explained. "Have to look good for the fans and all that."

"And you think I'm a tease," he replied with a smile.

Her hands slid down the black leather vest he picked to wear under his jacket. "Don't call me a tease when you decided to wear this sexy thing."

Killian's eyebrows perked up. "Sexy?" he asked. "I'll have to tell August you think it's sexy."

She gave him a knowing smirk. "Who do you think talked to August about using that leather for you?"

Killian stood in shock staring at his girlfriend as Emma turned and grabbed her shoes from the closet. She casually walked right by him to the desk chair to put her high heels on, her dress fluttering behind her.

"August said he designed this himself."

"Please," Emma said. "You don't think Elsa and I know where his studio is?"

Killian wasn't sure exactly what bothered him about that sentence. It was either that Emma conspired with the Jones brothers' cosplay designer or that Emma conspired with his brother's girlfriend.

Or maybe he was just surprised that a woman would do that for him.

There were still moments like this when Killian couldn't believe that he somehow made Emma Swan fall in love with him. Sure, their relationship was pretty complicated when it started, especially with Emma's relationship with Neal. But Neal did them both a favor by blowing up that whole plan.

Last year, Killian was just a pirate who got locked out of his hotel room and was somehow rescued by a fair maiden. This year, he was sharing a hotel room at Comic Con with her.

It worked out pretty well for Neal too. Last week, Killian and Emma went out with Neal and his girlfriend, Tamara, to celebrate the start of filming for another season of  _Misthaven_.

There was a familiar knock on the door and Killian went to answer it. Standing in the hall were Elsa looking professional in a short black dress and Liam wearing his Han Solo costume.

"So you both decided to be pirates today?" Elsa said with bemusement.

"Sort of." Killian gave her a warm smile and invited them in. "What are your plans for today, ladies?"

"Work," they said in unison.

"Well, that sounds like fun so we'll leave you to it," Liam said.

Elsa looked up and gave him a huge smile. "Just remember that you're helping out tomorrow."

"I remember," he said sweetly.

Liam leaned down to give her a kiss, and Killian couldn't help but smile. The brothers had been through so much together, especially so much struggle. It was nice to have them both happy now and be with women they loved.

"You ready?" Liam asked.

Killian nodded and grabbed his room key and Comic Con lanyard from the dresser. Then he turned and bowed dramatically to his girlfriend.

"If you'll excuse us," he said in his exaggerated accent.

Emma rolled her eyes. "Go. Elsa and I have to go over today's plan."

Killian walked over and gently kissed Emma on her head, being careful not to mess up her hair. "Good luck today. I'll see you back here later to get ready for the party."

She smiled up at him. "Try to stay cool. This isn't Montana."

A year later, and she was still giving him crap about his coat not being suited for the warm weather in San Diego.

"I'll be fine." He leaned over and gave her another light kiss. He couldn't help it. It was one of his favorite things. "I love you."

Her smile grew wider. "Love you too."

He said a quick goodbye to Elsa and headed out the door with his brother. A few people were milling around on the network's floor, but Killian and Liam were the only ones in cosplay. Everyone else was getting ready for their big media events. Tomorrow, the Joneses would helping them, but today was their fun day.

Killian saw Neal walking towards them and smiled. "Hey, man."

"Jones brothers!" he exclaimed warmly. "You two look amazing, although I'm a little hurt neither of you chose someone from  _Misthaven_."

"Well, I did sort of pick someone from  _Misthaven_  if you count my girlfriend."

Neal smiled. "True," he said. "She's down that way?"

"Yeah, and Elsa is already there too," Liam explained.

"Perfect!" Neal said. "You guys will be at the party tonight, right? Tamara said she wanted to say hi."

The Joneses said they would be and sent Neal down the hall to get working on Misthaven's press plan with Emma and his handler, Elsa, before heading to the elevators. As they waited, Killian turned and smiled at his brother.

"This is quite a bit different than last year, isn't it?"

"It is," Liam said. "At least Elsa and I aren't sneaking around anymore so I don't have to worry about locking you out of our hotel room tonight."

"Aye," Killian replied. "And not to worry. I have my own plans."

The elevator doors opened and the two brothers got in next to a man dressed as Jon Snow from  _Game of Thrones_ with a huge fur-lined cape.

"Great costume," Killian said. "You're going to regret that cape though."

The man gave him a smirk. "Totally worth it," he said. "Women love the cape."

Killian knew exactly what he meant. Last year, his coat attracted a beautiful woman. Sure, the leather was heavy and hot, but Emma loved it.

And Killian loved Emma.


End file.
